The Angels Foretell Their Demise
by seashellsally
Summary: It was never that clean cut, heroes on one side and villains on another. Partnerships were born, factions drew lines, collateral damage is inevitable, and suspicions clouded even the most resolute of minds. The devourer encroaches…
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Directions

**Malice is a character from Riviera: The Promised Land**

Malice had never been one to sleep in; she liked to get the initial grogginess of the morning over as quickly as possible. One of the few secret pleasures she indulged herself with was watch the sun rise over the spires within the castle of the Magi while sipping Elemina Mint tea. She hadn't slept in since she was a kid so it surprised her to awaken extremely refreshed, the kind of restfulness that accompanied sleep that lasted at least half a day. The next odd thing that caught her attention was the fact she was sleeping on the ground, very odd ground if what her cheek was touching was any indication. It was stiff like marble but gritty like sand, a very odd mixture she couldn't identify at all. Warning bells screaming in her head she jumped onto her feet her wings flaring to maintain her equilibrium.

She swiveled her head examining the strange area she was in, her reflexes tuned to strike should something threatening appear. It was dark she noted, night in fact, and it took her eyes a few precious seconds to adjust to the lighting. All the while she turned about in a tight circle searching for enemies. She registered very dim lighting filtering weakly above her, a weird lantern of some sort she reasoned but didn't dare look up just yet. She was in a dark alley with assorted paraphernalia strewn around the sides. Satisfied that no one was bearing down on her she calmed down slightly, still alert but no longer frantic. 'Where am I?' she thought agitatedly 'Why am I here? Where's my room?' She looked up to check the ceiling and spied the "lanterns".

They were not the elaborately crafted paper ones strewn about Asgard, these "lanterns" were glass abominations containing an ugly orange light. Her head was buzzing with sensory overload and for a quick second Malice thought she was going to faint. She closed her eyes and took a few deep, shaky breaths collecting herself into the deadly, independent Grim Angel she was. 'Ok, let's recap. I'm not in my room in the castle of the Magi. There are weird lanterns on the walls of this dark alley.' She glimpsed above her past the lanterns 'The sky, I'm outside.' The whole atmosphere stank of Utgard but that was impossible. Did Master Hector send her? She searched the folds of her robes for any sort of note from him but came up with nothing. She doubted even Master Hector could even send her to Utgard straight from Asgard, besides if he had sent her on a covert mission he would have contacted her through some means.

'This probably isn't Utgard…' she reasoned 'Still this energy, not quite demonic but somewhat similar.' Nothing was there in the alley and the longer Malice stayed there the longer she would be clueless about where she was. With a small growl at her helplessness she took a small step forward to prepare for lift off and nearly tripped over Skadi. Her Diviner axe had been transported with her apparently, once again she questioned if Master Hector had not sent her on some kind of mission. After a long moment trying to reach a conclusion behind her sudden displacement she ultimately gave up with an angry sigh. Grabbing Skadi she flew up into the sticky, hot, night air. Careening into the starless, moonless night she boosted herself up several miles before transitioning into a glide. She hung upon the wind, her black wings keeping her stable as she peered down onto the earth below. Giant obelisks thrust their way into the sky as far as the eye could see. There were lights everywhere, on the obelisks, the land, moving about in rivers of light of all different colors.

She stared dumbfounded by the sight, nowhere had she ever seen such scenery. It surpassed her wildest imagination and living in the land where gods once resided plus having seen Riviera the promised land, Malice firmly believed nothing else could possibly fill her with this much amazement. 'I haven't seen Utgard but I'd imagine there is more hellfire.' She pondered 'And a hell of a lot more intimidating.' She spent awhile gliding lazily above the strange land taking in the sight but eventually she remembered her predicament. She dove down sharply til she was a foot above the giant obelisks and righted herself into a soar. She opened her senses trying to see if they were projecting any kind of magic that could hurt her.

Not sensing anything other than the erratic energy in the air she tapped the top of a spire with Skadi. There was no reaction at all so Malice assumed it was inactive or something. Gingerly she touched down on its peak; it was made of the same material as the ground below. Looking around Malice noted nothing of interest save for a door In the middle of the obelisk. She heard a dull roar around her that she hadn't registered before, it sounded a bit like the ocean but warped. Walking over to the edge she peered down to examine the source of the noise, perhaps it was the ocean, and was astonished again. Sprites! Tons and tons of Sprites! They were everywhere weaving their ways about the rivers of light, hundreds upon hundreds of them wandering about like cattle. Her first thought was that Master Hector would die of joy if he knew about the massive amount of souls waiting obliviously to be harvested.

Her second thought was that there was no way she was in Asgard, Utgard or Riviera. Such a populace did not exist anywhere; even if all of their residents were to live together they would be merely a handful of water compared to this ocean. Staggering back Malice could feel the scope of her situation widen dramatically. She didn't know where she was or how she got here. She was fairly certain she was no longer in the universe her world existed in, an unbelievable claim to be sure but that was the most logical conclusion she could come up with given the information she had. Master Hector had not contacted her yet, her disappearance had probably not been noticed. He might contact her later but there was an equal chance he could not contact her at all. Until she could confirm that she was on her own this was not a problem at all.

Instinctively her thought process shifted into a warrior mind set due to the fact she was a Grim Angel. She needed more info on everything, the lights, the obelisks, the Sprites and their numbers, and lastly how she got here from Asgard. Unfurling her wings, she rose back into the air and flew off to the east, making sure her form could not be seen from the ground. She quickly discovered that the obelisks were filled with Sprites, effectively increasing their number by an exponential amount and revealing to her that the obelisks were in fact living quarters. Peeking into the windows she saw a variety of occupants per room, some were families while others lived by themselves or with a lover of some sort. The furnishings and size of the room varied wildly, each one was different in some way. A few of the occupants might have caught a glimpse of something fluttering about their windows but before they could get a better glimpse it would disappear.

Chris Redfield was no stranger to trouble; in fact he was familiar with all sorts of trouble from small trouble to big trouble to trouble that was beyond measure. When the better part of five years was spent dealing with zombies and the company that churned them out like canned peas trouble was something you ran at full force and grappled with. As such having been woken up from his slumber on a park bench by a horde of hungry zombies did not faze the former STARS member in the slightest. He effortlessly rolled off the bench drew his pistol and downed two of them before he had fully stood up. A quick scan showed at least twenty Umbrella zombies of the generic variety moving at a quick shuffling pace not fifteen yards away from him. He put down four more from his position before turning around and putting some more distance between him and the zombies reloading at the same time.

He took cover behind a tree and fired off more six shots more with each bullet dropping a zombie. As usual the zombies took no heed of their diminished number and continued on their singular quest, confirming to Chris that these were indeed the simple minded variety he had encountered during his excursion inside Raccoon city. He allowed himself to relax slightly as he reloaded his weapon during which he realized he didn't know where he was. Last time he was conscious he was back at the base waiting to hear how they would be dealing with Umbrella's escalating bio terrorism. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before; Jill's therapy wasn't going well despite the best efforts of himself and the psychology staff. He had rested his eyes for a few minutes but apparently he had lost consciousness entirely.

He slid out from behind the tree and finished off six more leaving only two. Wanting to conserve ammo he holstered his weapon and charged the pair brandishing his machete. He beheaded one with a strike and swiveled to his right using the blade to block the final zombie's biting lunge. He kicked it off his blade then stabbed it in the head, destroying it immediately. He backed off about a yard just to ensure none of the downed zombies launched a surprise attack. As his fight or flight reflex cooled more thoughts began to puncture his adrenaline focused mind. Why was he outdoors? Where was headquarters? Where had these zombies come from?

He was in a city, that was for sure, and most likely in an urban park if the trees were any indication. That was as far as he got when a rustling caught his attention putting him back in full battle mode. Forms padded out of the shadows at a much quicker rate then the zombies did and with a raspy scream rushed him. In the dim light he could just barely make them out, another old foe from Raccoon City, the frog men. Their putrid green skin was their telling mark but they were also dressed in blue vests and pants. Within seconds the front three were upon him aiming their meaty fists at his head. With a barbaric yawp he raised his machete and engaged them in combat. He turned away the first with a parry, knocking it down before slashing at the second's fist. It fell to ground with a clunk allowing Chris to ram it with his shoulder sending it sprawling onto the first. The third got his shot in, sucker-punching Chris right in the abs.

If this had been back in Raccoon city he would have doubled over in pain but the last eleven years had driven him to the gym, partly to help him ready for battle against the zombies and partly to give him somewhere to vent when sheer pressure of the situations he was placed in began to get to him. Thanks to the countless reps he had done the fist rebounded off a massive slab of hard muscle injuring him definitely and with sizable bruising going to appear in the morning but not agonizing. He repaid the blow with a blow; using the hilt of the machete he crumpled the frog man's skull killing it instantly. Reflexively he stepped away from the bodies for the same reasons he stepped away from the zombies, they had a penchant to rise again. He also glanced at the remaining group: ten left. They had stopped a few feet away to observe the fight with glassy eyes and shuffling feet.

Chris' mind was whirlwind at he made tactical decisions within half seconds. The dim lighting was working against him; there could be more groups of undead horrors, zombies or frog men or worse, waiting to assault him. There was no way he could outrun the frog men long enough to make it to the parks edge and into the city proper. He would need to find a lit path and follow it to the end using the light to spot enemies. He wasn't sure how much ammo he had left, he had stupidly used up too much of it dropping those garbage zombies. Without taking his eyes off them he reloaded six more precious bullets and with a pivot he charged head first behind him into the woods.

The frog men gave a whooping cry and began to pursue him with inhuman hops and bounds. He got about a hundred feet before he dove behind a tree switching from retreating into attacking. Sighting down the barrel of his pistol he squeezed off two shots dropping one frog man but missing another, costly. The creatures stopped and scanned the area for their assailant, granting Chris a quick moment to regain some breath before plunging back into the foliage. He was as stealthy as an anvil and, a split second later, the creatures resumed their hunt.

Far in front of Chris Redfield was the road that surrounded the park, dividing sectors of city and nature with an asphalt line. The light was typical of a city, hazy yellow and orange from streetlights illuminating the street perfectly. On the city side was a bunch of building, mini skyscrapers with large glass windows. In one of them was a blond man who had deemed it necessary to don to sunglasses in the moonless night. He sat leisurely in front of the window perfectly situated to view what would happen if Chris Redfield managed to make it out of the woods and onto the sidewalk. Beside him was an abomination of frankensteinian proportion, a man beast of large stature clothed in a large, black, leather coat. A small strain of drool made its way down its mouth but the beast would routinely wipe it from its face ensuring that not a drop would stain the floor.

The blond, its master, was supposed to be dead, killed by the hands of Chris Redfield. The face of Umbrella who had created it and the myriad of creatures that stalked the woods across the street. He was Albert Wesker, former companion of Chris Redfield who had betrayed him and his partner Jill in the interest of obtaining godhood. With the patience of a practiced schemer Wesker watched the border lazily having complete faith that the man he despised the most would emerge out from the woods and get splattered by the Nemesis. The hulking monstrosity beside him had been a pain to recreate. Wesker was familiar with the process but it required a special kind of genius to manufacture the STARS killing machine. Ultimately it came down between giving the recipe to either Dr. Doom or MODOK in exchange for their help. While Doom would have been a more capable ally Wesker didn't trust him as far as he could throw him, besides he was positive he could take down MODOK when it eventually came to that.

Using Wesker's knowledge of the T and G virus plus the basic biology of Las Plagas MODOK successfully recreated the serum and parasite while helping Wesker with mass administration of it. Sadly his plans to build an undead army had failed when Magneto had exposed his collaboration with MODOK to Doom and Super Skrull. They had demanded the pair to immediately cease and desist with their plans threatening to kill them on the spot if they failed to comply. Wesker's smug expression sharpened considerably as he remembered how they had steamrolled him so effortlessly like a bug. It had taken considerable restraint on his part to resist killing them all there and then but cooler heads prevailed. He had given his word to stop producing zombies and evolving the G virus into a more potent form, he even supplied everyone with a small retinue of Garradors.

He had of course lied through his teeth plotting with MODOK to continue their army building later. Doom had his eyes on them and despite the fact he was practically (practically!) a god he didn't want to cross their "leader" just yet. Reflexively he punched the Nemesis next to him to let off steam; he hated being bossed around by drivel! The Nemesis did nothing as if it wasn't even aware it had been assaulted, the infusion of Virus X by MODOK had really pushed it to the next tier power wise. Sucking a breath in between his teeth Wesker released it in an angry sigh before resuming his smug demeanor. A little stress relief was in order hence his lounging here waiting to watch the Nemesis 2.0 fall upon an unsuspecting Chris and reduce him to a bloody smear on the sidewalk. 'And they say it's impossible to enjoy a good show in New York without spending an arm and a leg' he thought with a smirk.

After flying around for awhile Malice had not been able to glean any more information on her whereabouts save that the buildings seem to extend past the horizon itself. Despite having awoken not an hour ago wheeling about without making any significant progress was starting to fatigue her mentally. There was no light illuminating the horizon at all, morning was still pretty far off if this world had a sun. She had been lulled into a false sense of security do the first strike blindsided her completely. A mass of something slammed into her back tearing at her wings causing her to lose control of her flight. A quick second of stun washed over her mind before her warrior instincts kicked in unconsciously. Her body rolled about in mid-air trying to shake the attacker from her back while her hands kept a death grip on her Diviner.

The thing clung on unperturbed by the flailing aerial aerobatics but unable to attack due to the G-force. As she plummeted to earth Malice caught quick glimpses of a building that was very close to her position and with a push she smashed her back into it dislodging the attacker. She looped about in the air regaining some altitude and turning to face her opponent. It was some kind of giant raven; she estimated it had a 6 feet wingspan, with a twisted beak made for tearing and milky white pupils. Its body was completely bare of any feather save for the wings and the face, the rest of it was rotting flesh and visible bone. It let out a shrill shriek and dive-bombed Malice again, attacking with its shiny black talons.

Malice's mind had finally caught up with the present at last with just enough to let her cleave the bird in two with Skadi. The remains fell to the earth in a flurry of chunky bits of flesh and greasy feathers. She flourished her weapon in front of her to control the swing and bring it back into her regular stance but she had not a second longer as a flurry of several more ravens flew toward her. They zoomed in a tight group, the same formation geese used when they migrating. As they approached they broke the formation, each of them zipping around Malice in a tight circle trapping her. Malice watched their antics with a small smile, she was not amused by their antics but with the irony of her situation. She was a grim angel, a being designed to slay demons, yet she rarely did her job. Master Hector had recruited her at a young age to be his right hand allowing him to strike at targets that could tarnish his image if he attacked them directly. Thus her time was spent eliminating political obstacles and harvesting the souls he required for his divine purposes. '_It is the duty of the Grim Angels to pass judgment on demons.'_ The creed uttered by many that lived in Asgard rang in her ears like a bell toll.

One of the ravens randomly shot forward aiming for her left wing. Shifting her grip ever so minutely she swung about, clubbing the raven with the blunt side of her axe and scoring a nonlethal blow to its body before turning and hacking at a second one trying to take advantage of her blindside. The injured one shifted back slowly and drifted down as it tried to regain its balance but Malice granted no quarter. Calling on the hidden potential within Skadi she slashed it horizontally releasing a frigid breeze. The raven's wings froze up and it plummeted to earth with a scream. With a second swipe she scattered a wave of ice about her, wild and inaccurate but it did its job. The ravens backed off breaking their momentum and giving Malice and opening.

She drove through and began to pick up speed; she would be risking injury if she let those demons continue their little games. She easily gained a sizable lead before they recovered and began to pursue. She began to review her options of attack as she took sharp bends about the buildings to try and slow them down. Skadi was crafted to deal damage to big foes; it had managed to shave large chunks off of a golem effortlessly. Against smaller, faster opponents Skadi's slower arcs were a disadvantage Malice had to compensate for. Luckily the freezing blasts her diviner could conjure went a long way into overcoming this, a frozen opponent couldn't dodge. The sticky, humid heat would damper that ability somewhat but it was still her best option for dealing with the ravens. Smirking she began to accumulate the cold about her dropping the temperature a bit.

Wesker checked the clock on his phone noting that forty minute had passed since the attack had commenced. He still couldn't see Chris' silhouette on the path yet but he was sure that within the next fifteen minutes the former STARS member would emerge and get slaughtered or he would send in the Nemesis to see if it could find any of Chris' remains. He shifted in his seat slightly and continued to watch making mental bets with himself over whether or not Chris had become zombie chow. His musings were interrupted by the abomination next to him hissing slightly like furnace. He turned to the beast "What?" he asked slightly annoyed. The thing didn't answer it simply turned the hiss into a growl and began to tense like a threatened cat.

Wesker observed the Nemesis for a second trying to ascertain exactly what it was doing, was this MODOK's doing? Something hit the window in front of him causing him to swivel about. Black feathers rained down from on high like snow and a body impacted the window. Strolling up to the window he pressed his face up against it, on the side walk were two smashed corpses. 'The ravens' he thought stunned. 'They were supposed to be the final wave before the Nemesis. How…? Who? Hell.' He turned to the monster "Go up and kill whosever interfering." With a war cry the bio weapon rushed for the stairs grabbing his rocket launcher along the way. Wesker checked his watch, eleven more minutes before Chris' ETA; the Nemesis had plenty of time to kill the interloper and return.

A top the building Malice had taken a stand against the ravens having accumulated enough frost. The temperature plummeted further with each swing she took coating the air about her with a thick veil of vapor. The ravens could dodge Skadi's edge easily enough but each subsequent arctic blast froze them solid sending them plummeting to the ground. Soon the skies were hers and she celebrated her victory with a flourish. Panting slightly, she brushed the hair out of her face in a dismissive manner. "Pitiful." She said "But now there are even more questions than before. 'There are demons here so…' A click was her only warning and reflexively she swung Skadi about. That move saved her life as the resulting freeze enveloped the arm and weapon of the monster aiming at her.

Someone, it might have been that pansy ass Ledah, had once remarked that demons while varied always followed a specific code. The weaker ones would charge in first and inevitably get slaughtered causing minor wounds and fatigue in the process. This would soften up the opposition for the big boss who would always enter swinging. Even Malice, a grim angel who had never fought demons before, could tell the creature on the building was the big boss. It was a profanity to humanity in its form, built like a human with highly exaggerated features. It was as big as a golem, slimy as an acid blob, and uglier than…well…anything she had ever seen. It gurgled green slime from its mouth and peered at its frozen limb quizzically. Positioning her weapon in front of her Malice grinned smugly "Think you have a chance?"

While the monster didn't comprehend the ice it did understand the threats and with an earth rending roar it smashed its arm on the roof, freeing said arm. He pointed his weapon back at her and pulled the trigger. A projectile flew by Malice by at amazing speeds and impacted the building behind her. The resulting blast peppered the air with concrete and glass and threw Malice forward right into the beast's range. Thrusting an arm forward a tentacle shot out of his wrist and smashed the grim angel in the torso. Malice grimaced from the pain but with a flap of her wings she managed to prevent herself from falling out of the sky.

"Cute." She remarked sending another wave of cold at the demon. It merely raised its arm blocking the frost from penetrating any further than the sleeve of his coat. Giving a keening noise it lowered its arm and took aim at the woman but he was too late. Malice had shot forward while the beast had been blocking and with a swipe from Skadi she rent his weapon on two. The front end of it clunked uselessly off the building while the back end landed behind the beast. Slamming the beast back with a tackle fuelled by her momentum Malice backed off a bit predicting a second tentacle attack. The monster obliged her with a quick one-two from the tentacles from wither hand. Both were beaten back with two quick swipes from her diviner and then she retaliated with the same cold blast from before. The beast blocked again and predicting a second assault it lunged forward with a shoulder charge.

Malice guarded just in time but it threw her slightly off guard and back five feet or so. More tentacles appeared but instead of a decisive strike the monster flailed them at her guard striking her with a flurry of blows. While she was trapped underneath the strikes the beast advanced to engage in melee. With a final push it retracted the tentacles giving him a clear shot to punch her in the bread basket again. Not wanting to break her ribs Malice managed guard the blow with the shaft of her diviner which in turn pushed her off the ledge and back into the sky. Deciding range gave her a much better advantage Malice backed up out of the beast's melee. When the tentacles came back at her she sliced them off with Skadi's edge buying her the time she needed. With two quick strikes she rent the air in front of her dropping the temperature very rapidly. A massive sheet of ice formed and with a second strike she carved an edge onto the front of it.

With a push she sent it hurtling toward the roof at a very low angle making it skid along the ground like a razor. The beast sidestepped the projectile shooting another tentacle at Malice grabbing her left wing. She grunted as it pulled at her feathers but she grinned nonetheless. Behind him a massive explosion rocked the roof sending the beast flying over her head and onto the ground far below. While the weaponry was alien to her Malice had predicted the weapon the creature had used still contained explosive charges. Righting herself in the air Malice hesitated for a split second before diving after it wanting to assure herself that it had perished.

As Chris neared the edge of the forest he tried to quiet the sound of his panting, he didn't hear any other zombies sneaking up on him but it had been awhile since the last wave and he was feeling paranoid. His ammo was gone, wasted on the rest of the frog men and the first few Ganado, all he had left was his machete which was coated in slime and his stun baton. The skyscrapers loomed a few yards ahead of him promising safety and help which helped alleviate his fatigue somewhat. After several seconds of hyper sensual overload trying to uncover any more zombies standing between him and sweet, sweet sanctuary he burst through the underbrush onto the concrete sidewalk. One deep breath to steady his nerves, a quick second breath to start slowing down his heart rate then a simultaneous mind numbing pain just below his right shoulder and the blast of a gun.

Chris stumbled and fell onto his knees using his left hand to stop himself from face planting onto the ground. There was a laugh, a chuckle, one he had heard many times before. "Impressive." Wesker commented "I see you can still bulldoze your way out unwinnable situations with those ridiculous muscles of yours. And you call me out on juicing." "Wesker" Chris spat clutching his injured shoulder "I see you don't have the good sense to stay dead." From his advantage point a top a streetlight Wesker jumped onto the pavement five feet away from his most hated enemy. "Ah yes, I'll have to repay you for that." He commented lazily raising his arm and aiming his pistol. "Let's see, the foot? The knee? Perhaps I should just shoot your spine and watch you squirm for the rest of your life as cripple." "Would it be too kind of you to shoot me in the ears first so I'll never have to listen to you rant again?" Chris snarked back. The blonde's smirk deteriorated into an angry sneer "That's what I always hated about you Redfield; you never know when to shut your damn trap when you've been outwitted."

"What can I say Wesker? It's my only source of solace after you launch into another of you little 'I am a god' speeches. And by the way, my muscles are natural unlike your hair." Wesker wasn't riled in the slightest "Goodbye Chris." Chris would have died, should have died but a huge thing came crashing down several yards to the right of Wesker. "What?" the former STARS member gasped "How?" There was a rustle of something and a whoosh of air before someone landed between Chris and Wesker. From behind Chris could only see the figures blue and grey robes and the large black wings attached to its back. In its hand was a large, blue, crystalline weapon of some sort which it raised threateningly. Before Wesker could react the angel cut the air in front of it and beheaded the Nemesis. "Who the hell are you?" Wesker asked waving his gun at the figure "Why are you interfering? Were you the one attacking my ravens?"

Malice looked over at the blond man nonchalantly "Those birds attacked me along with that beast. Were they yours?" "Yes, you winged bitch. And you just cost me a mint by killing the Nemesis." He snarled "You'll be paying me back with your life." The Grim Angel just stared at him for a minute, and then smiled a haughty little smile "big words from a little Sprite." He answered her with two gun shots, one to each wing. Malice screamed as the bullets tore though her wings setting fire to her nerves and almost making her black out from the pain. The blonde chuckled "You were saying?" he said as he cocked his gun intending to finish her off when Chris' machete buried itself into his arm. Climbing back onto his feet Chris smirked and drew his stun baton "Didn't forget about me did you?" "Chris!" Wesker yelled pulling the blade from his arm and tossing it aside "How dare you assault a god!" He aimed at Chris but there was a an arc of blue that knocked the pistol out of his hand. "A god? Don't make me laugh." Malice taunted through clenched teeth.

Wesker responded with a roar and zipped towards them using his superhuman speed. "Move." Chris warned, knocking the angel out of the way just in time to avoid a punch from Wesker. He attempted to retaliate with his stun baton but he only managed to strike air. A kick to the leg sent Chris sprawling onto the ground speckling the cement with his blood. He cried out as Wesker continued to pound away at his sides with powerful kicks. The angel tried to bat him away with the same results that Chris had, Wesker merely sidestepping the blow using his speed. Undeterred the angel waved its weapon around trying to nail him but the former STARS member effortlessly sidestepped each blow. Chris wasn't sure if it was the blood loss but he felt as if the temperature had dropped considerably. With a sliding kick Wesker sent the angel sprawling onto its ass and with a giant leap he landed back over near the lamp post where he had started his attack.

He laughed as Chris continued to spasm from the pain as he tried to pull himself up while the angel leaned on its weapon in order to support itself needling him with a death gaze. Wesker strolled up to the discarded machete, stained red with his blood. "Well this has been fun, but I've got things to do and viruses to spread." He picked up the blade and gave it a few test swings "Say hi to Team Bravo for me in hell." He dashed forward with his inhuman speed intending to finish Chris first, as he approached he saw the angel smirk triumphantly. His foot suddenly slid inexplicably causing to lose his balance; he fought to stop from landing ass first on the ground which the angel had been counting on. Activating her Angel Awakening, Malice shot forward nailing the blond in the stomach carving out a chunk of flesh on his side while throwing him onto the ground.

Chris watched in amazement as the angel began to glow and a golden light rim above the crown of her head grew until it became a halo of light. He managed to tear his eyes of the show of divinity in front of him and look at Wesker. The man was getting up, that damn virus regeneration reducing a crippling blow into nasty injury. At first Chris chalked up the lack of blood to the healing but as Wesker arose the light revealed glittering frost encasing the whole wound. "Dammit it all to hell" Wesker swore as he examined the wound. "As you wish" Malice quipped lunging at him. The man jumped back to evade but slumped to the ground covering his wound. It wasn't often Chris saw Wesker in pain but it was a rare treat when the smug bastard showed any emotion other than smug, smugger, and smuggest.

"Damn." Wesker reiterated before grabbing something in his pocket. Malice shot forward in an attempt to stop him but she was too late, he tossed something onto the ground which exploded into a blinding white light. When it abated the man was gone leaving not a trace of which direction he had escaped in. Malice briefly considered pursuing him but an experimental flap of her wings told her that an extended amount of flight was not advisable, Angel Awakening notwithstanding. Instead she turned her gaze onto the Sprite who had been the target of the demon's rage. The pair studied each other for spell under those dusky, yellow lights. "Thanks" Chris spoke up struggling to get to his feet his shoulder throbbing like crazy "Really saved my ass back there." "What is this place?" Malice asked not really in the mood to play nice. She was sore and lost and confused and once Angel Awakening wore off she would experience bone crushing fatigue for a day at least. "What?" the man answered her, she really, really hoped he wasn't as lost as she was. "This place, this town, these buildings." She gestured to the area around them "Where is this?"

"I'm not sure what city we're in but I think we're in America." The man replied gazing about "Maybe somewhere in Europe." "I don't know what that is." Malice snapped "Are we in Asgard or Utgard?" 'Asgard, Utgard?' Crhis thought, furrowing his brow 'Aren't those Viking terms or something?' Chirs tried again "You're on Earth, third planet in the solar system." Malice shrugged "I know not where that is Sprite. Do you know of Riviera?" "I think that's region in the south of France?" he said uncertainly 'If only Jill were here, she's better at this than I am.' The angel just gave and angry sigh "This is useless. When I find that idiot who sent me here I will…" "What do you mean someone sent you here?" Chris asked growing more and more acutely aware of how much blood was dripping down his arm.

The angel studied him for a moment "I did not come here of my own will Sprite, someone sent me here while I was unconscious-. " "Me too!" Chris interjected stepping forward his heart pounding. He hadn't thought a lot about his sudden transportation to where ever this is thanks to Wesker but apparently he was not the only one who had been mysteriously displaced. Sadly he wouldn't be able to glean anymore; his vision began to fade in and out while his feet began to wobble as if he was standing on a carousel. "Damn" he muttered realizing how much blood he must have lost if he was experiencing these symptoms. The ground rose up to meet him and he struggled to maintain a weak grip on consciousness.

The angel watched the Sprite keel over into a puddle of his own blood. It was a sight she had seen countless times, typically she was the reason they clung onto the last scraps of consciousness before entering a slumber they would never awake from. She could sense her fingers tensing around Skadi as muscle memory dictated this was the moment they raised the Diviner to relieve the poor sap of his soul. Instead of harvesting she knelt down, he was speaking something to her. "Hospital." He whispered before going limp beside her. Thankful that Angel Awakening increased her strength Malice decided to fly him to the hospital which would no doubt aggravate the wounds on her wings. Still this was her only lead so far and she could ill afford to lose it to blood loss.

Picking him up proved to be tricky, enhanced strength aside this was the biggest Sprite Malice had ever seen and she had killed more than her fair share. Undoing a sash on her robe she bound the wound as best she could before gathering him in her arms. Since she was flying a bridal style would have been best but the Sprite was just too heavy for that so she wrapped him in her arms like if she was giving him a hug and pulled him into the air. She fluttered unsteadily as her wings flapped for altitude. Finally she managed to gain some momentum and the pair of them made their way into the city. While the street they had been on previously had been devoid of people subsequent roads provided more and more traffic. Picking a random passerby Malice descended to street level.

The Sprite's face went from bored, the typical expression from anyone going about their business without much interest, to amazement as she fluttered in front of him about three feet off the ground. "Holy mother of..."the man muttered "An angel!" "Where's the nearest hospital?" Malice asked impatiently "An angel" the man repeated, dumb struck before snapping out of it. He pivoted about to the other pedestrians on the street "Am I the only one who sees this?" As a matter of fact he wasn't, everyone on the sidewalk was staring at Malice as well. "It's the end of the world!" one of the pedestrians shouted "It's just some kinda publicity stunt," another one brushed it off "Damnit, I knew I should have gone to Mass more, maybe there's still time." A woman nearby muttered. "It's an angel!" the man in front of her yelled "A real life angel!"

"Where is the hospital?!" Malice roared wishing that the Sprite wasn't filling up her arms so she could brandish Skadi at the idiots. "Left on 34th then go four block, turn right and go five more blocks, the hospital will be to your left." An elderly lady who seemed to have it all together yelled at Malice. "I don't know what that is!" Malice shot back "What does the building look like?" The Sprites who weren't ogling her or screaming something stupid looked at each other. "Well it looks like all the other buildings but different." One of them said blushing at how useless that was "Its…ahh…it's got a pyramid like roof." "No it doesn't your thinking of 's, the closest hospital St Meriata's and it has a dome roof." "You're all so useless; St. Meriata's got a huge entrance in the front and a helipad. Look for that!" "It's an angel!"

"Will one of you help me or are you all that incompetent?" Malice shouted furiously "Hey, lady." Someone shouted to the side of her. From one of the strange metal contraptions the Sprites rode in a bald hard boiled man waved at her. "Calm yo tits and follow me, I'll get ya there in record time." "Finally" Malice grumbled pushing herself forward. The contraption moved pretty fast even thought there were plenty like it clotting up the road. It twisted and turned about the road with an incredible amount of deft without having to slow down a smidge eliciting cries of outrage from the other contraptions and their Sprite riders. Malice tailed him relentlessly keeping the pace despite being slowed by her passenger. Within fifteen minutes they were at the entrance of the hospital. Realizing she would not be able to fly into the entrance Malice touched down and half carried and half dragged the injured Sprite inside.

"We need treatment!" she yelled as she entered catching the attention of everyone there. The exact same silence happened like it did when she appeared before the pedestrians which just served to piss her off. "This man is bleeding to death! Is there someone in this thrice damned hell who can help him?" she screamed. "Yo people, that man needs a doctor. Can we get a gurney to intensive care, please?" the Sprite who had led her there had followed her inside. His words had an effect; some Sprites wheeled a metal table into the room and took the man from Malice. Before they could leave with him Malice grabbed one by the shirt collar. "I need this man alive, Sprite. You shall make every attempt to treat his wounds or I shall judge you so mercilessly the gods will roll in their graves with sympathy for your pain. Understood?" The poor man squirmed in her grip "Yes, yes ma'am…er…your holiness, eminence…sir?" he replied weakly. She let him go and the pair scampered off with the Sprite deeper into the heart of the hospital. Before she left Malice turned to the Sprite who had led her hear "Thanks for your assistance." She said as she passed him. "Is all good." He replied "Just have remember this when the saints come marchin in and all that."

She didn't bother to reply because she didn't have the foggiest about what he talking about. Securing Skadi in her arms she took off once she was outside disappearing into the inky black night leaving a group of Sprites staring after her. Her wings were really beginning to ache now and the Angel Awakening was beginning to wear off. The light that had formed the halo was beginning to dim rapidly and her body stopped glowing. She pitched forward as a wave of fatigue washed over her like a relentless tide, she couldn't stay airborne for much longer. Spotting a nearby roof that was completely deserted and flat she landed on it, wobbled slightly, and then face planted on it. There was no time for any kind of thought as she blacked out into sweet slumber her wings reflexively covering her body like a shield.


	2. A Team Divided

Chapter2: Team Divided

Since childhood Tony Stark got up exactly two hours after the crack of dawn on the spot, regardless of how tired he had been the night before. Even if he had stopped a plot to rule/wreck the world, thrown several super villains in jail, built some incredible machine that spat in the laws of physics and wooed a beautiful woman all in one day, if not in that order, he would wake up completely refreshed two hours after sunrise. Hawkeye would often brush off this trait off citing that Tony was partly cybernetic thus presumably had a built in alarm. Tony would usually bite back by asking Hawkeye how many beautiful women he had entertained lately, knowing full well Hawkeye was starved for bedroom fun, which in turn would result in verbal one-ups then degenerate into a pissing match until Captain America hit both of them in the head with a demand they stop. He would often work on new machines during these first few waking hours which in turn would often lead to new ideas.

While the sun rose over Manhattan, Stark fiddled with his Iron Man suit in a state of nirvana, a rare enough mood considering what had transpired over the past few months. After the end of the war between heroes, the popular media was calling it the "Civil War" despite outcries from historians; Stark had his hands full attempting to maintain peace between the super heroes and put the kibosh on super villains who saw the war as the perfect opportunity to cause disarray. Between that and the public's fury over the death of their beloved Captain America, peaceful moments were few and far between. After about two and half hours after he woke up Jarvis would inform him of the day's schedule and send up breakfast. Today however Jarvis broke routine by interrupting his master's down time within an hour of his rising.

"Master Stark, I have news." The stately voice suddenly said "I'm sorry for intruding but I believed it best that you were informed." Sighing, Tony stood up, straightening his robe, and began to leisurely put his tools away "What is it this time?" "A zombie attack, sir" the computer replied. Tony Stark paused for a second before turning to the monitor "A zombie attack?" "Yes sir, during the middle of the night massive swarms of the undead congregated about the city. The police have managed to deal with them thus far but not without casualties." "Why wasn't I informed?" Tony asked heading to his desk "The police did not call to ask for your assistance and most of the media had been smothered by the government trying to prevent a panic. I've only just learned about this a few minutes ago myself." The multi-billionaire sighed and stretched for a moment before replying, "Call the Avengers and tell them to meet me here in an hour, we'll divide the city into sections and shore up the police force."

"Understood sir" Jarvis said leaving Tony to his thoughts. He couldn't really remember any villain that they had faced who employed zombies as their main modus operandi. It was still a very brazen act in the wake of Civil War so Tony reasoned it was some hot shot super villain trying to send a message. A quick search on his computer confirmed what Jarvis had told him, the zombie attack was being kept under some incredibly impressive wraps. The internet was down for the most part and all that was on the T.V were reruns to block any news from being conveyed. All in all a very impressive job from the U.S government especially in light that this would have been decided in a very short time frame. As he began to suit up he wondered what kind of day today would be.

Unlike Tony, Clint Barton, a.k.a Hawkeye, was not a morning person or even an early afternoon kinda guy. A good night's sleep optimally consisted of eleven or more hours with no rush on waking up fast. Sadly as a hero he rarely ever got that amount of sleep which often constituted in the snarky demeanor that the Avengers often had to put up with. That grumpiness was in full force when a beeping noise woke him from a particularly nice dream. He tried to ignore it as best he could but eventually he pulled his hand out of his pants and pushed off the sheets. Looking about blearily for what was making that noise he yawned and scratched his head. "Damnit, can't a guy get some sleep?" he muttered as he got up and began to search the pockets of his costume thinking it was his cell phone. He withdrew his cell phone and something else, his Avengers card. When he was in the Avengers Tony Stark had distributed them amongst the members and they acted as a telephone and a tracking device allowing Jarvis to pick up their location anywhere on Earth.

It was impossible that the card could have been in his pocket, he had destroyed it during Civil War when he had sided with the anti-registration side. Yet there it was in his hand making that damn noise that was keeping him from pleasant dreams. He briefly considered destroying it again but his curiosity got the better of him. He pressed the "A" on the Avengers logo on the card with some force activating the phone aspect of his card. "Hello?" he asked uncertainly "Mister Barton? This is Jarvis. Can you hear me?" "Why the hell is Tony calling me and how did he manage to slip this card into my pocket?" Clint demanded "You are an Avenger hence you have the card." Jarvis replied, had he been human no doubt a bucket load of sarcasm would have permeated this statement "And Master Stark is asking for the Avengers to assemble." "Did you get hacked or something Jarvis?" Clint snarked back "I'm not an Avenger anymore, Civil War happened, remember?"

"I do not what you are talking about Mister Barton." Jarvis replied "Please meet the rest of the Avengers at Stark Towers in an hour please. There is a zombie outbreak happening in New York and Master Stark wants to discuss his plans on how to deal with the issue." "Tell Stark he can take his orders and stick them up his a-" there was a click and Clint pounded his fist into the wall "Don't you hang up on me you stupid computer!" Tossing the card away Clint sat his ass down on the floor and crossed his arms defiantly. "Damn you Stark." He muttered considering what he should do. There was no way in hell he would be heading to Stark Tower even if the so called "zombie apocalypse was happening just outside his door. Speaking of zombies Clint peeked between the slates of his window blinds and confirmed that while Jarvis was spewing mostly bullshit he had been dead on about the undead break out. A group of them was shambling past at a decent clip and the street was devoid of any "living" body. Changing out of his pants Clint put on his Hawkeye costume and scrambled around his bachelor pad for his quiver and bow.

Stomping around and through piles of dirty clothes and empty cartons of food, he made a mental note to clean his place when he got back. Once he was ready, Hawkeye opened the window and climbed up onto the roof. Drawing an explosive arrow he shot one directly into the middle of the zombie herd reducing one's head into chunky salsa and sending the others flying about. They all turned to face him simultaneously sending a shiver down his spine and began to move toward him. 'I have a feeling that this apocalypse is going to be a lot less glamorous than the internet wants us to believe.' He thought wryly as he sent a wave of fire arrows into the crowd.

At the top of Stark Tower Iron Man was strategizing with the chief of the NYPD as to how the Avengers and police would act in order to ensure minimal casualties as they pushed the zombies back. His only warning was a barbaric roar as he was flattened by a giant green arm. His attacker didn't give him any time to recover as powerful, earth rending punches kept him glued to the ground. Activating his chest laser he pushed his attacker back long enough to stand up and get some ground between the two of them. A furious Hulk charged him ready to bash him with another haymaker only to meet a second uni-beam to the face. "Damnit , Jarvis get the weapons system online. The Hulk's here and he means business." "I don't understand sir." the computer replied "Isn't the Hulk a member of the Avengers." "Uh, he was Jarvis." Tony snapped back "Then Civil War happened remember?" "As a matter of fact sir I don't. Master Barton also mentioned this Civil War when I summoned him. Am I missing something?"

Iron Man dodged a second punch and tried to get out of range by blasting up into the air but the Hulk grabbed him and slammed him back onto the ground. With Iron Man facing the ground the Hulk had no reason to fear another chest laser to the face and began to barrage the suit with a flurry of punches and kicks. "You hunt Hulk's friends. Hulk kill you." The green goliath roared as he prepared his final strike, a ground pound that would easily turn Stark's insides to jelly from the force alone. He was foiled by a giant hammer to the face which caused him to tumble away from Stark. Thor landed on the roof and caught his hammer "Cease in your feckless administrations, Hulk. Villain he may be, but far be it for us to forsake our code of honor." The Hulk jumped back up if he hadn't even felt the blow at all "Puny metal man get Captain America killed and hunt Hulk and friends. Metal man dies now." The Hulk tried to get to grab Iron Man but Thor pushed him away. "I understand your pain Hulk. Captain America was a boon companion and a dear friend but Iron Man was not responsible for his death. He shall pay for his actions against super hero kind but not in blood." The Hulk tensed for a second as if to go through Thor to get to Iron Man but relaxed and stared directly into Thor's eyes. "Hulk not want to hurt friend. Hulk will let metal man live for now."

"I praise thou mercy Hulk." Thor replied before turning to Iron Man "Speak now villain, why dost thou summon Thor, god of thunder, and the Hulk when it is within your ken to remember the Civil War and thou erroneous actions against us and the superhero kin?" "Summon you?" Tony asked incredulously "I didn't summon-Jarvis why the hell did you call them?" "You did order me to assemble the Avengers." "The Mighty Avengers, not the old ones!" Tony replied struggling to get back up on his feet. "Didn't you guys destroy your Avenger cards anyway?" "Your devices reappeared upon our persons last night." Thor replied "Forsooth, twas there upon rising despite my ken that I had destroyed it." "Hulk too had card but Hulk smashed card before." "I don't understand what is happening sir, but all the Avengers answered the call I put out." Iron Man froze "Who answered Jarvis?" "Hawkeye, Thor, Hulk, Captain America." Jarvis reiterated "That's…That's impossible Jarvis. Captain America is dead."

"Apparently not" a voice, a very familiar voice, answered them. Standing there on the roof near the northern edge was Captain America looking very much alive. "Impossible" Iron Man remarked raising his hand preparing a pulsator blast "Who are you?" Cap shrugged "Who do you think I am Tony?" "A Skrull, an illusion, Mysterio, hell maybe a really well preserved zombie" Tony snarked back. "I am real, Tony" Captain America replied "I don't know how I came back to life either but I am no imposter." "Lies" Iron Man retorted "I watched you die, I was there at the funeral. There's no way you're really Cap." "Hulk believe." The green giant stepped forward and took his place by the formerly deceased Avenger "Hulk glad Captain America alive."

"Hulk that is not Captain America, you saw him die." Iron Man said "Don't turn this into the Skrull war all over again." Thor stepped forward "Are thou the real Captain America? Pause a moment before answering for if thou lies that thou art mine boon companion this god of thunder shall show thee no mercy!" "I am no imposter Thor. Please believe me when I say that I am alive and stand here before you." The two men held each other's gaze for a long moment before Thor suddenly busted a huge belly laugh. "Yggdrasil be praised! Captain America has returned to us from the halls of Valhalla." Thor said stepping over to his friend and slapping him on the back "Your presence was missed greatly by myself and all of those who stood in your camp." "It's good to see you too Thor." Captain America replied with a smile before turning his attention back to Iron Man.

Reluctantly Tony put down his arm "I don't believe you for a second." "I don't need your faith Tony. I need to know why you called me and why I can't contact S.H.I.E.L.D or anyone else." "You can't contact S.H.I.E.L.D?" Ton asked surprised "No, when I tried to call them it said that the number did not exist." Captain America replied. "Jarvis can you contact S.H.I.E.L.D?" "And what might that be, sir?" his computer replied "Did you get hacked or something Jarvis? You know S.H.I.E.L.D, Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, a government agency led by Nick Fury?" "Forgive me sir but there is no record of them in my data base." Iron Man face palmed "What is going on?" "I don't know," Captain America replied "But right now let's deal with what we do know, zombies are attacking the city and the police force is struggling to contain them. I trust you have a plan Stark?" Iron Man sighed and nodded, as much as he hated to admit it, there was a more pressing situation they has to deal with for now. "I contacted the chief of police and they want us to break off into individuals and help shore up the police defensive line. Once we thin their ranks we start cleaning up the rest and hopefully find the bastard who started this in the first place."

Captain America looked around "Didn't summon Hawkeye?" "I did Captain America but Mister Barton was quite…adamant that he would not be coming." Jarvis replied "Although after the exchange I have viewed here I now understand his hostility a bit better. I must reorganize my data; I seem to missing some vital information." "While I'm out I want you to run some tests to see if you were hacked. There seem to be some huge gaps in your database." Iron Man ordered "Understood sir, the report shall be on your desk."

Iron Man grabbed his Avenger card and slid it through a scanning device in his armor's wrist. "Check the card for your coordinates and call in every hour with a progress report." Disgusted with the recent turn of events Iron Man blasted off to the south. "Dost thou really wish to ally thyself with that man?" Thor asked skeptically "Right now we need his help if we're going to curb this zombie problem and find out what happened to S.H.I.E.L.D. But I have no plans to make peace with Iron Man, the team is no more." "Understood but I wish to converse later about the future state of affairs." Thor replied before flying off to the east. "Hulk help Captain America." The green giant said as he squat down, preparing to jump off the roof. "I'm grateful for you assistance." Captain America said. With a leap Captain America parkoured his way down Stark Tower and headed north while the Hulk bounded from building to building with his sight set on the west.

'This is endless!' Hawkeye thought as he reloaded his quiver from the stash in his room. He had run out of arrows in no time thanks to his early mistakes which was costing him precious time. He had been using his most destructive arrows on the easy soft targets like the regular zombies quickly losing his most valuable assets when other monsters began to show up. Drawn by the sound of battle a pack of undead dogs rushed at Hawkeye just as he was about to finish off the last zombie in the very first group he had encountered. They were extremely agile, he had only managed to feather two out of a pack of five before they jumped up onto the roof he was perched, on forcing him to engage in melee. Dodging several bites he managed to use the narrow roof to his advantage knocking two of them off before decapitating one then using an arrow to hit one as it jumped back onto the roof. The final one managed to claw him in the arm as it went for his face but Hawkeye pushed it off then stabbed it in the face.

After getting his breath back he patrolled a five mile radius around his home where he was drawn into a conflict with some disturbingly human like monsters. They were attempting to break into an apartment and in the lobby a group of men were fighting to keep the door barricaded. What was really worrisome was their ability to use weapons; after he had got their attention by killing three of their group they rushed him with knives, some hatchets and one of them had a chainsaw. They attempted to surround him but his rapid rate of fire inhibited their movements. Apparently these human ones were capable of some tactics because they decided to retreat into an alley. When he tried to follow them in order to finish them off, a pack of dogs hidden behind the bend charged his flank to cover their retreat, after he finished the dogs off the human monsters were long gone. "Sheesh, and here I was thinking this was going to be hard or something."

He hadn't encountered any more of them but a few more dogs in smaller units of threes and plenty of regular zombies. Nothing too troubling but the density of their numbers quickly depleted his quiver forcing him back home after only completing three miles of his circuit. His pissiness at Tony's offer to team up was beginning to look like it could come back to bite him in the ass. Since his best combat abilities came from his archery skills, while his melee abilities were above average, and he was going to run out of arrows eventually without any way to replenish, the constant Hollywood trope about zombies turning anyone they bit into one of them made him cautious about getting too close. As he bandaged his leg he wondered if this would be enough to zombify him. After double checking in the mirror to make sure his flesh wasn't beginning to rot or anything he continued his patrol. Running up one of the side streets in his neighborhood he backtracked to where he left off without any surprises. The street was completely bare of any activity which relaxed him somewhat. He wouldn't have to worry over any civilian trying to assault the monsters or group together for protection.

His current apartment was in a semi urban neighborhood with lots of other high rises about and each one of them had their front doors barred in some way or another. The sky was overcast with clouds effectively blocking the sun from making an appearance. It was the picture perfect day for the zombie apocalypse. He didn't encounter anything for about half a mile which came as both a welcome relief and edgy apprehension. After finding them around every bend that he was quickly becoming adjusted to constant action so this lull made him suspicious 'I bet it's those human monster things again. They seemed like the type to favor surprise attacks.' A chorus of screams alerted him to trouble, slightly to the left past the bend and down another alley, and he was off like a shot. Winding between two buildings he emerged on a street two streets to the left of his initial position. Another high rise stood in front of him but unlike the others he had seen its entrance was unblocked. A small group consisting of two teenage girls, a man and an elderly lady were being menaced by two dogs. A body lay over five feet to their right side, a woman, being devoured by three regular zombies, most likely she had been a part of the group.

The dogs went down effortlessly with an arrow in the back of the head each. The zombies glanced at him but ignored him; animal instinct dictating a dead, fresh meal was better than a living, fighting one. Making a hard pragmatic decision he decided to ignore them and their victim's corpse in the interest of conserving ammo. Strolling up to the traumatized family he ushered them inside the building without any hassle. Jamming the door close with his bow he cupped his hands to his mouth "Hello! Anyone here?!" A few minutes of silence followed each one punctuated with more calls from Hawkeye before a small group of men appeared each one armed with a gun. "Who are you?" one of the men asked "Idiot, don't you watch T.V? That's Hawkeye, one of the Avengers." Another berated "He's come to save us."

"Found these guys outside, can you let them shack up here?" the hero asked gesturing to the group behind him. "Sure, as long as these zombies get exterminated quickly" one of them, their leader most likely, replied. "Our food situation is ok but if this thing goes on for more than a week we'll be in trouble." Hawkeye nodded appreciatively "We're doing everything we can to get rid of them, just hang tight." He hated to lie to them, it was "him" and no "we" but he didn't want to harm morale any more than need be. He turned to leave but was accosted by the man of the group he had just saved. "Please Hawkeye, could you bring that corpse in here." He gestured at the corpse that the zombies were feeding on "It's my wife Clara, I-I-"He broke down for a second joined by the three other women "I can't stand the fact she's being eaten. Please." Hawkeye sighed and turned to the guard group "Can I borrow one of your guns please." Sympathetic of the situation the leader handed over his beretta. Checking to make sure it was loaded Hawkeye headed outside, shot the group of zombies and dragged whatever was left of the corpse into the building, noting with disgust that those little buggers worked fast.

The corpse's appearance caused a round of crying and vomiting, even Hawkeye who had seen a lot of disgusting stuff in his life had to fight hard to resist blowing chunks. They covered the body in a tarp and left her in the lobby while the outsider group was placed in a room. After washing the blood and grit off his hands Hawkeye headed for the door. "Keep this barricaded, it's far easier to stop them from coming in then fighting them." He instructed their leader "Don't worry, with me on the job this'll be over in a flash." "Good luck Hawkeye, our prayers are with the Avengers." The man replied shaking Hawkeye's hand before the hero went back out into the streets. He completed his circuit with only a few more battles, mostly with dogs accompanied y regular zombies. One fresh quiver later he augmented his patrol another ten miles.

At about the two mile mark he was beginning to run low on arrows again. The dogs were out in full force using predatory tactics to surround him and ambush him. One pattern of their he picked up was having one charge him to draw his attention while another snuck up behind him aiming for his neck. The buildings had diversified a bit with two story buildings juxtaposed with the high rises. They increased the number of alleys around giving the dogs an easier time of surrounding him. He had several close calls, one had even managed to pounce onto his bask and tear at his costume. Ignoring the cool breeze assaulting his exposed back Hawkeye checked his quiver, seven arrows left, and began to plan his retreat. Just as he was about to turn around one of those human monsters appeared shambling along in a non combative manner.

Nocking an arrow he watched the creature warily as it moved sideways to the right. It stopped in front of a two story house, a pizzeria in fact, and pointed up to the second story window. Two of the human creatures could just be glimpsed in the frame but what they had could be clearly seen, caught in their grasp was a young man. Satisfied that the human had got their message the monster attacked and was quickly stabbed by Hawkeye. He swore vividly, obvious the monsters had been planning this ever since he had sent them running earlier and they had caught him in a perfect trap. Undoubtedly they were baiting him to come and rescue the guy but if he did charge their position he risked getting swarmed inside. If he went to restock they would probably eat their hostage then plan another trap.

Hawkeye didn't hesitate, he charged into the building knowing full well what a bad idea this was. 'A few arrows in the head will teach these creeps what a bad idea it is to mess with me.' He burst through the door with a kick revealing a horde of regular zombies crammed inside the first floor. He shot the two closest to him but decided to risk melee using the blade hidden in his bow to stab and slash his way through. His movements were a flurry of purple as he cut through them unscathed and made his way to the stairs. As he began to climb one of the human monsters appeared at the top and began to throw an assortment of knives at him. Ducking back down the door he drew another arrow and shot it right between the eyes, four arrows left. Climbing the stairs he stepped over the body and entered the living room.

The human monsters had left with their hostage leaving two more of their kind awaiting Hawkeye in the kitchen. The first lunged at him from the doorway attempting to stab him with a butcher knife which he blocked with his bow. Suddenly a really sharp pain alerted him that a third one had hidden somewhere in the living room and ambushed him. With a cry he kicked away the one in front of him before pivoting about and decapitating the back stabber with his bowstring. The motion jarred the knife loose from his back and it clattered to the ground dripping red with blood. Notching an arrow he finished off the first one then picked up the knife that had stabbed him struck the last one in the head burying the blade deep in its cranium. He couldn't tell how much he was bleeding but every time he turned around he left a jagged semi-circle of blood in his wake.

However his concern for his mortality was cut short when a scream from the next room alerted him that his hostage was close by. Digging deep into that flawless core of emotions that comprised the best of heroes he charged forward into the next room with just enough time to see the human monsters climb out of a nearby window onto the roof. His back stung like a hell but Hawkeye managed to boost himself onto the roof were his opponents waited. Along with the two human monsters a pack of seven dogs surrounded the house ready to jump up onto the roof once space opened up. The other creature on the roof was a huge version of the human zombies; at least eight and a half feet with a burlap sack over its head and a chainsaw all revved up in one hand. The young man laid at the foot of the burlap sack monster his corpse nothing but bloody raw meat.

"Damn you." He said cocking an arrow and trying his best to avoid the fire like pain in his back "Damn you all to hell!" He shot the human monster to the right of him as the other and burlap sack advanced. He blocked the knife and pushed the human monster into the chainsaw giving him enough time to wheel about and run to the opposite side of the roof. With a howl two dogs jumped onto the roof ready to join the fight. Advancing cautiously from the front once they drew close they both lunged at him, one aiming at the throat and the other trying to knock him off the roof. He ducked under one of the dogs and drew his blade and stabbed the other in the face. He kicked it's corpse over the edge to give him room to dodge, the chainsaw wielder had finally cut through the body of his fallen friend with his weapon. With an inhuman war cry it advanced swinging its chainsaw with calculated precision it began to slowly box Hawkeye in.

Unable to get a decent shot in Hawkeye looked about quickly, desperately trying to find some means to escape getting made into mystery meat. He could of have tried to drop back down into the window, but with the fact that his back was completely numb, he would probably just fall over the edge and get eaten by the dogs. A stiff breeze and a quick whiff of ozone alerted him that he had to act now or die. Watching the chainsaw in an almost trance like state he got into a rhythm just like he did back during his circus days when performing a particularly dangerous trick. Time seemed to slow to a fraction as the burlap sack monster neared with a triumphant gurgle, realizing its prey was accepting its fate. His focus narrowed into a pinprick, Hawkeye watched the chainsaw swing upwards in preparation of the final stoke. The weapon came down prompting Hawkeye's reflexes. Meeting the chainsaw partway with his bow, the hero buckled under the force of the blow, trying his best to keep his fingers clear of the treads.

With a grinding sound the chainsaw tried to cut through the bow but its weighty material was proving an effective barrier between Hawkeye and certain, gory death. With a grunt Hawkeye forced it to the side, just barely over the skin of his index finger, forcing the monster to succumb to the effects of physics and follow the channeled inertia doubling over to the side in attempt to keep its grip on the weapon. In a flash Hawkeye bounded over to the other side of the roof and drew an arrow. Sadly while the chainsaw hadn't been able to break the bow it had weakened the middle enough, when Hawkeye drew back the bowstring the middle cracked into two pieces. Left with two worthless arrows and a broken bow a familiar feeling crept over Hawkeye. He had been in plenty of situations that looked hopeless like this one, as per a hero's job description, but rarely had this emotion, this foresight, been present in his gut like glacial water. He was going to die.

The monster had recovered and with a scream it summoned two more dogs to join him on the roof. It stalked toward him in a very passive manner as if it knew victory was imminent with the two dogs trailing him, slavering like fiends. Desperately fiddling with the right side of the broken bow Hawkeye tried to unlock the blade hidden within but the mechanism was jammed leaving him with only his wits and fists. Encroaching down his back into his calves the cold numbness of his back sealed the final nail in his coffin as the hero found himself unable to stand. He would be ended on his knees as if he was some spineless penitent. The buzzing sound rose to a frantic crescendo as the device was pushed to its fastest revolution in preparation to slice through the skull like wet tissue paper. Lifting his head one more time Hawkeye stared into the burlap monsters wild eye, he would not die bowing to his opponent. "Fuck you." He growled as his last words.

A shot suddenly rang out and the burlap monster roared back dropping his weapon in the process sending his dog retinue fleeing in self preservation. Something purple slammed into the monster and there was the sickening sound of sound of flesh being loudly penetrated. Something had attached itself onto the monsters face; it drew a gun and shot the thing several times in the face before pushing its body forward in order to topple its foe. With a sigh the figure pulled its long stiletto heels out of the monsters chest and reloaded the gun. "You ok?" it asked revealing it gender. It was a girl with blonde hair tied into a ponytail wearing a purple jumpsuit which showed off her incredible curves. "Uh…yeah." He answered her dumbly. "Stay here." She instructed him as she charged the remaining dogs. With their master dead the rest of them had jumped on the roof forming a tight knit mass of fangs and foul flesh.

Not phased in the slightest the girl drew her gun firing three shots that dropped two and blew half the face of another. Even with its snout dangling from its nose the dog joined its comrades in a suicide rush with the sole aim of knocking the girl off the roof. She shot another dog before avoiding their pack attack. Another dog was pushed off the roof in the chaos while the others either wheeled around to face their opponent or set their sights on the prone Hawkeye. Two stalked him while the one with half a face pounced at the girl. An an elegant kick knocked him out of the air and she splattered its face with a stomp. With a superhuman leap she flew through the air and landed on one of the dogs who were harassing Hawkeye. It collapsed with a yelp before being killed with another kick that sent her heel directly into its head. The final dog, feeling threatened, abandoned an easy meal in order to drive off the attacker. A clatter alerted Hawkeye that the one she kicked off the roof had returned sandwiching her between the two.

Her pretty face was an emotionless mask as she hunkered down into position. With a silent signal the two dogs leapt forward with flawless coordination but it was futile. Like a beast the girl crawled in the ground with surprising agility catching one dog with her calves which twisted viciously causing its neck to snap. Untangling herself fluidly she spun her body one hundred eighty degrees dodging the last dog's attack and finishing it by stabbing its throat with her heel. With an uncanny silence she arose and gazed at Hawkeye, her eyes a glassy yellow. For a brief second Hawkeye felt like he staring back into the eyes of the human monsters, they were predatory and calculating. Then it seemed to soften slightly, no longer a predator but more of a deep disinterest, and she regarded him silently.

"Ya didn't have to interfere, had them right where I wanted them." He called to her hoping that this mood would stay "but…uh…thanks for the help anyway." She said nothing as she continued to pierce him with her gaze; it would've been kinda hot if it weren't so probing. After a long moment she approached him "What is the current status of your injury?" she asked monotonously "What?" he asked puzzled at her demeanor "Oh, the wound on my back? That's…that's nothing. Don't you worry about me, been through worse." In a desperate display of machismo Hawkeye tried to stand up but his legs were completely unresponsive. Watching him flounder for a second the girl strolled up to him and peered over his back. "This wound is not serious, major organs are unharmed. However untreated this will likely cause infection. Target seems unable to move due to the pain. Likelihood of survival less than 0.000001 percent." Her ramblings completely blew by Hawkeye as he was getting a perfect view of her cleavage and crotch thanks to the position she was in.

She was silent again and if Hawkeye could have focused on her eyes he would have noticed they seemed to clear for a brief second. Repositioning herself to his right side she knelt down and placed his arm over her shoulder "Are you capable of moving if I assist you?" she asked him. Realizing he was in an uncomfortably emasculating position Hawkeye waved her off "I'll be fine sweetheart, just give me some room." He struggled again to stand which the girl must have taken as a non verbal cue to help him. With a surprising amount of strength she pulled him up onto his feet. He grunted in pain as he felt his wound pulse painfully while his feet attempted to rebel against his sudden movements by staggering about like a drunk man. He lurched forward but by repositioning herself in front of him she managed to grab his shoulders to keep him upright. By bending his head he had a gorgeous view of her chest 'I'm a married man, dammit, I'm a married man' he thought repetitively 'Albeit we're technically divorced now and not seeing each other and we've both slept around a good deal but…but…'

"Are you going into shock?" the girl asked "Please respond." "Ah…ah…yes...I mean no…I'm not going into shock." Hawkeye replied frantically as he ripped his gaze off her chest "We shall hole up in the pizzeria below us. Brace yourself." "Huh, what?" was all the poor hero got out before hauled over to the edge of the roof. The girl grabbed him by the arm then dropped over the edge using his inertia from swinging back and forth to launch him back inside. He landed on his back with a yelp as the impact stimulated his nerves changing the pain from numbing to sharp. She entered in effortlessly behind him and began to move around the apartment. "Do you want to tell me your name or something?" he asked trying his hardest to ignore the pain "Name's Hawkeye by the way." She didn't answer him at all choosing to concentrate solely on gathering supplies. After about five minutes or so she returned with a spatula that was glowing red with heat as well as a pitcher of water and some bandages.

Hawkeye knew what was coming so he ripped off a piece of his outfit, his top had been shredded completely by his fight with the monsters on the roof leaving him with only his mask and his pants. Stuffing it into his mouth he stiffened as much as he could and rolled over. The girl placed the hot spatula down on his wound using one of the bandages to pressure it evenly. After all the humiliation his manly pride had been through it was a small consolation to Hawkeye that he could control the pain enough that the only unwilling cries he produced were small enough to be blocked completely by his gag. Once the wound was cauterized the girl poured a small amount of cool water on it to ease the burn then wrapped it in bandages. From his position laying face down, Hawkeye couldn't see exactly what the other girl was doing other than she had gotten back up and was moving about the house.

When her footsteps returned a blanket fell over his form then his face was lifted and set to the side as a pillow was paced between him and the floor. "Get some rest." She instructed as she began to walk away. "C'mon babe, what's your name?" Clint asked watching her back retreat into the next room "Mine's Hawkeye but you probably knew that." She paused for a long moment "My name is Jill Valentine." She replied before disappearing into the next room. He had lots more questions to ask, where she had gotten her training from being the foremost. She looked like some kind of Bond type girls like Black Widow with the way she twisted and flipped as she battled. Her attitude fit the profile too; someone who had locked down their emotions completely for the sake of the mission even if it left them practically comatose during friendly interactions. Still there was that bestial manner she slipped into during the end of the battle that had been something more in line with Wolverine with his berserker rage. It unnerved him enough to make sleep difficult to accomplish; he was an independent hardass at the best of times so the fact that the smallest attempt to move his back was met with an onslaught of pain making standing impossible made him paranoid. It was going to be a long night.

While Hawkeye was recuperating from his wounds his fellow former Avengers were hard at work destroying the zombie invasion. After a bit of recon with the police it turned out that anyone who got bit by a zombie got the infection and would turn into one of them within a few hours. With heavy hearts the police were forced to gun down several of their infected comrades some who were no longer themselves and some who were still in full control of their mental faculties. After helping the police regain their control of the situation the Avengers used Iron Man and Hulk to head the assault against the zombies as they began their offense on the horde while Captain America and Thor provided clean up and artillery.

By the time sunset rolled around the invasion had cleared considerably with some sectors being void of the undead menace entirely. The police had strengthened their hold on the remaining sectors allowing supplies and medical help arrive to aid the stranded masses. Still the zombies seemed to have a very large mass spread throughout the city, since no one knew where they came from or how many there were left the situation was far from resolved. Using a coin toss it was decided that the Hulk and Captain America would stay up throughout the night providing back up when needed while Thor and Iron Man would retire for the night and take the day shift.

As the moon rose above the horizon Tony Stark touched down on top of the roof of Stark industries. He was bushed after the day's events as well as still sore from the beating the Hulk had subjected him to that morning. "Jarvis get Pepper to send up a small dinner and some painkillers." "Will do sir, my report on my examination of my internal servers is complete and sitting on your desk." His computer answered him back. A quick check of the clock informed him that it was five minutes after ten which wasn't as much time as he would have liked. While he waited for his food Tony perused the report Jarvis had created. The computer hadn't detected any signs of a hacking attempt on its mainframe and its database had no fragmentation indicating info removal. This didn't really surprise Tony as it would require a genius of unbelievable caliber to hack Jarvis but it did add fuel to a theory he was beginning to form in his mind.

The rest of that night was spent bypassing the locks the government had set on the internet giving him free reign to inquire about the current state of affairs going on. With each topic he googled a picture began to emerge bizarre in its shape and unknowable in it design but concrete all the same. Some questions were answered but most were not and even more began to pile on till Tony felt his mind begin to spin from the amount of them. By the time midnight came Tony Stark had to step away from his computer, he had seen enough for now. Standing in front of the window he peered down at the city which was unnaturally comatose thanks the invasion. Subconsciously he began to recap the relevant information he had acquired during his search.

'This is not my world, it looks very similar to it but it's not.' This was the most basic fact but the most pertinent. For a long time now he had known of the existence of parallel dimensions and had even been in a few of them himself. 'Civil War did not happen, the Avengers are still together. But the Hulk, Thor and Captain America clearly remember the war and the death of Captain America meaning they are not the originals from here. However we cannot contact S.H.I.E.L.D, neither the government nor Jarvis knows what that organization or who Nick Fury is either. Other organizations like the Fantastic Four do not exist if the fact the internet isn't aware of them or that Baxter building doesn't exist is any indicator. I can't get into contact with anyone else.' He paused and rubbed his tired eyes 'Who sent us here and is there anyone else from my world that was transferred here? That the most pertinent question right now and if I can figure out who did this I can probably get them to send us back.'

"Us" was also a problem, Tony was still reluctant to work with the old Avengers, and it was no secret the others felt the same way about having him back on the team. At this point Tony felt it was best if he splintered off from the team in order to work at the problem with a different set of Avengers. This of course would rely on the fact that other heroes had also been brought over from his world or already existed in this one. Absent mindedly he walked over to the computer and brought up Jarvis' schedule for the day. Within the "to do" column he typed "find other superheroes and ask them if they are interested in a job" deciding not to specify what that job was in case Jarvis began to ask questions Tony didn't want to answer just yet.

He would do the interviewing himself at Stark Tower in order to build a team that could work well together while attempting to ferret out the guy who had pulled this one. His hope was that he could convince Wolverine and spider Man, if they were here, to join his cause since their prior experience on the Avengers would greatly help speed things up. A fit of fatigue washed over tony causing him to yawn and get into his sleep wear. He had decided not to tell Cap and the rest his discovery, partly out of not having concrete evidence they were in a parallel dimension and partly out spite. The complete show of loyalty to Captain America had rankled him and drudged up the old rivalry that had always existed between the two of them even before Civil War had happened. It wasn't as if the fact they were in a parallel dimension was threatening their lives or anything. Eventually one of those hard heads would figure it out, hopefully by then Tony's Avengers would already be established and well on their way to solving the mystery.


	3. Chapter 3

While the city slept uneasily as the police fought off the dregs of the zombie invasion, Albert Wesker regained consciousness. After escaping Chris and his mysterious angelic partner, he had managed to retreat back to the hideout on foot back to a group of Ganado ready to begin their invasion of New York. The first thing he noticed was the green liquid that he was submerged in, then myriad of equipment he was attached to. He briefly considered breaking the tube containing the liquid open but reluctantly decided against it, whoever was taking care of him would not appreciate him trashing their equipment. With a controlled patience he tapped on the glass with his finger expecting that something was watching over his recuperation.

His expectations were fulfilled as a set of robotic arms descended from the roof of the tank and clamped onto his shoulders in order to brace him. The liquid drained out from the bottom of the tube and the myriad of cords attached to him began to fall away and the tube lifted up to reveal his caretaker. "About time" M.O.D.O.K commented as his partner in crime shrugged off the metal arms and walked forward uninhibited. "How long was I out for?" Wesker asked grabbing a towel proffered by a robotic servant and drying his body off. "Twelve hours or so give or take; has been bitching about you for awhile now." Wesker didn't answer, the zombie invasion had not been authorized by Doom but it wasn't as if he had given away their location or anything. "Once you're done come to the meeting room on the second floor. That insufferable fool has called a meeting to discuss his plans for the future."

Wesker grunted his confirmation causing M.O.D.O.K to turn around and begin to exit "Prepare for a dressing down." The mad robot advised with a small giggle before flying out of the room. Disposing the towel on the floor Albert returned to his room to change out of the metal diaper he had been wearing in the tank. After a fresh change of clothes including his favorite trench coat and a fresh pair of shades he skulked over to the meeting room. It was barren save for a round table where the other members of his group were sitting around. Taking a seat he surveyed everyone dispassionately. M.O.D.O.K sat to his left grinning nastily in anticipation for what was coming. Super Skrull sat on his right looking extremely bored while Magneto sat next to M.O.D.O.K with a look that was all business,

Their "leader" Dr. Doom sat between Super Skrull and Magneto with his elbows on the table and his hands grasped in front of him, a typical villain pose. Despite the fact he couldn't see Doom's face Wesker was sure the villain was scowling at him. "I hope you enjoyed your little excursion Wesker" The Tricell agents face did not betray the smallest hint of emotion "It was enlightening" he replied simply. "Be thankful that your actions have not betrayed our presence to anyone." Doom said "Do that again without our permission and you shall suffer the consequences. Doom will see to that personally." Everyone at the table shifted slightly from the tension that was mounting. "I'll keep that in mind, let's discuss the plan."

Doom hit a button on his wrist which activated the overhead projector. A map of New York splayed itself over the wall to the north of where they sat forcing a few of them to crane their necks to view it properly. "From the info Doom has gathered the Avengers have assembled and now lead the attack on your bio weapons." "The original Avengers" Magneto asked. "Mostly, Doom's intel did not see Hawkeye with them but otherwise the original group has gathered. They have done a decent job cleaning up your mess Wesker." Underneath the table Wesker's fist tightened, he was a god, how dare Doom needle him so cavalierly.

"What of the Fantastic Four" Super Skrull asked his boredom transforming into keen interest "Have they arrived yet?" Doom shook his head "Not yet, but if the note intel Doom has gathered is correct their arrival into this world will be staggered throughout the next several months." Super Skrull fell back into his seat with a scowl. Wesker rested his head on his hands, his stare focused solely on Doom. Where could he have gotten such information? The Tricell agent couldn't help but believe that Doom was hiding information from them. How they had formed into the group they were now was a prime example of Doom using some sort of incredible foresight too accurate to be simple predictions.

Wesker had not been in this world for less than a day before one of Doom "Doombots" had picked him up and explained the situation to him. Apparently he and a few others had been transported to this world with many more on their way. The Doombot had given an offer Wesker couldn't refuse, join with or die right there. Normally Wesker would have declared he was a god before trashing the robot but he was low on the virus he used to fuel his super speed and strength. Deciding that living in temporary partnership was better than dying again he reluctantly took up Doom's offer with the promise he could have his own lab. He quickly learned, however, that even with his powers at their full strength Doom would prove to be a real thorn in his side so Wesker decided to bide some time and to stay in the group. From within Doom's group he planned to go about his own business biding his time to revitalize the total global saturation infection plan.

He wasn't exactly chummy with the other villains at first but he was aware they all knew each other as acquaintances. After he had partnered up with M.O.D.O.K the robot filled him in. Apparently he and Doom had worked together as part of some sort of conspiracy group with several others, they were not friends in the slightest. Super Skrull and Doom shared protagonists with a super hero group called the Fantastic Four; they just barely tolerated each other. Magneto and Doom knew of each other but didn't have any connection with each other. The fact that the insufferable genius had surrounded himself with people who hated him was both advantageous and telling. It meant he was alone in any secret projects he might have been scheming up but if he was that unconcerned with the group rebelling against him he had a hidden ace or was powerful enough to command their respect and loyalty.

M.O.D.O.K had also informed him that Doom had gathered everyone else in the same manner he had approached Wesker. Obviously he had known ahead of time where each of them would be and how vulnerable they'd be having just woken up into this world. It was apparent that whatever his "intel" was it was the thing or person that had put them into this parallel dimension. Even if they had figured it out Doom had been absolutely silent about the whole thing and whenever pressed for info he would deny that anyone other than his own technologies were giving him information pertaining to this situation and threatened to kill whoever the poor soul asking him was if he kept probing.

After giving it some thought Wesker decided he ultimately didn't care, this summons to the parallel dimension had pulled him from death's grasp offering him another shot at his goals as well as Chris Redfield's head. Who cared if someone was pulling strings behind the scenes, after all he was god and soon even the manipulator would bow before him. Pulling himself out of his reverie he leaned forward "What's the next step of our plan? Are we going to kill the Avengers before they get out of hand?" Doom shook his head and used the remote to zero in on Stark Tower "No, we shall leave the heroes to continue running about clueless of their own situation. Using this time while they are unaware of our presence, we shall strike and secure some important supplies. M.O.D.O.K, you shall launch an attack on Stark Tower using the robots you've been building. There is some tech there we shall need if we want to continue on to phase two of our plan." The killing machine cackled "I suppose this is going to be a hand off sort of mission then?" Doom nodded "Doom doesn't want our presence to be noticed yet. Make sure your robots can't be traced back to us."

Pulling a memory stick out of his cape pocket he slid it across the table to M.O.D.O.K. "What tech Doom wants is on the stick. Feel free to show it to anyone you want but Doom doubts anyone else here would understand it." Picking it up the machine placed it into a compartment of its chair. "Ohhh, I can't wait." Doom then turned to Magneto "I want you to infiltrate Trask Industries and place every Sentinel in there under your command. Phase four requires a lot of fire power and having those robots on our side will make taking on enemy mutants easier." For the first time since he had met him Wesker watched as Magneto's face changed from dignified neutral to something resembling keen dislike. "I detest having to rely on something used to eliminate mutant kind. Surely your own Doombots would be far more capable of shoring up our offence then scrap refashioned in such an odious way?"

"Doombots are not to be used for any trivial reason. The Sentinel units are far more capable at dealing with mutants than Doombots. Your feelings have no place in our plans." Magneto said nothing but something in the room began to rise. The metallic walls seemed to shake as if an earthquake had enveloped them. Wesker leaned back in his seat very intrigued about the display of power, he had heard of Magneto's innate ability to control metal but he had never seen it in action. He watched as a low wave passed through the area giving everything an extra rattle as it went before it came upon Doom. The tyrant's armor rattled ominously as Magneto controlled every aspect of the armor encasing him. Doom's foot tapped for a moment then stopped, his fingers would stretch reflexively then close into a fist, his mask would skewer slowly from left to right as if Magneto wanted to twist the head from Doom's shoulders. Still the genius did nothing to stop it, he just leveled his gaze at the mutant. Then it stopped, the walls shaking, the increased level of tension, and Doom's unwilled moving.

Magneto sat back in his seat "Very well." The tension diffused rapidly and silently with the only sounds being the click of Wesker putting his gun's safety back on, M.O.D.O.K cooling his chairs lasers, and Super Skrull's petrified fist returning to flesh form. Without missing a beat Doom turned to him and Super Skull. "You two shall stay here. You'll both be needed in the phases to come." They both grunted their consent causing Doom to stand up "You have your orders. I suggest you carry them out to the best of your abilities." Without wasting anytime the villains left quickly to go attend to their own affairs. As he walked down the hallway M.O.D.O.K caught up to him "Go to my lab. We'll talk there." He ordered with a giggle before jetting away.

Wesker spent the next two hours restocking his supply of personal virus and organizing the data he had gathered when fighting Chris and the angel. While the angel hadn't presented any threat to him or the group he decided to with hold his information about her from Doom. The man was already carrying a large amount of secrets with him and while the angel was no ace in the sleeve it comforted Wesker on a petty level that Doom didn't know everything there was to know. When the two hours were up he discreetly entered M.O.D.O.K's lab using his super speed to boost himself past the cameras.

The mad face machine was waiting for him in front of another lab tube, one among hundreds as far as the eye could see. In it was the makings of another Nemesis, the human had already been injected with another batch of the enhanced T-Virus and was mutating normally. "Please try not to break this one; these aren't cheap to make you know." M.O.D.O.K grumbled as Wesker sidled up next to him. Uninterested with the monstrosity growing in front of him he turned his head and stared at the robot. "What do you want M.O.D.O.K? This can't be all." Hovering closer to the Tricell agent M.O.D.O.K activated a white force field obscuring them from any cameras Doom might have set up, it was soundproof as well. From his headband came a flashing red light that ran down the both of them surveying for any bugs on their persons before stopping with a beep to assure them it was safe to talk.

"Dear old Doctor Doom has both of us under heavy surveillance after you last stunt." The robot informed him "I've found five hidden cameras here that weren't here yesterday." "Did you destroy them?" Wesker asked "No you fool; he'd know we're up to something." M.O.D.O.K replied angrily "What I'm saying is that we'll have to put our plan on hiatus for awhile until tin can becomes focused on something else." "How long do you think that'll take?" Wesker answered evenly despite the fact his blood was beginning to boil. "How should I know?" M.O.D.O.K spat back "It'll probably take to part way into phase three in the least unless something really unexpected happens. A dangerous enough threat to make him concentrate on destroying it at least, I've worked with this guy before and he can keep his sights set on something for a pretty insane amount of time."

Sighing, Wesker pushed his shades up his nose a bit higher "I guess I'm grounded til then." He mentally noted that when he betrayed Doom to make sure to take his sweet time with grinding the man's bones to dust. "While you're sitting here on your ass I'd like you to take another gander at this." From his arm of his chair M.O.D.O.K extracted a memory stick "Here's the recipe of my batch of Uroboros, it's still not giving me the desired results so I want you to look it over and see if you remember anything else about the formula." He pocketed the stick in his coat "Will do." Their conversation over M.O.D.O.K retracted the force field allowing Wesker to return to his room.

Deciding that this was as good a time as any the Tricell agent put the memory stick in his computer and opened the file. M.O.D.O.K's formula popped up on screen listing at least a hundred chemicals and the incredibly specific combinations he had used in his failed batch. Before he began to scroll through the file he wrote down a number of things on his "to-do" list. Along with violently tearing Chris apart, and ordering several new pairs of sunglasses he added grinding down Doom's bones, checking up on the new Nemesis as well as exacting his revenge on the angel. Even with all those projects the only thing Wesker could do was lift a hand to support his chin as he reviewed the recipe in front of him.

As dawn blossomed New York City woke itself from a long and troubled sleep. The zombies had become more active at night and even though Captain America and the Hulk had been there to help soften most of the blow the zombies had still managed to claim a number of lives, both military and civilian. Staring down the second full day of zombie hunting, the men and women of the NYPD roused themselves on weak coffee and tired jokes. The drain could be felt by everyone, which combined with the paranoia of not knowing when the next attack was going to happen nor how many still lurked within the shadows of the alleys of the city. Above them a lone copter cut its way across the city heading directly for the government building.

The occupant within had spent the last two days in transit, first within a plane across the Pacific touching down near the capitol of the U.S before hopping on a high powered copter to New York. Still they showed no signs of fatigue as they touched down on the street right in front of the building. That area had been secured by the best of the best in preparation for their arrival by order of the governor himself. The passenger waited until the blades had stopped before jumping out and stretching their tired limbs happy to be back on land. The chief of police approached. "This way, please." Together they made their way up the steps into the building. The entire place had been transformed from a place of politics to a war zone headquarters. Several men in military uniforms sat clustered around a map of the city that had small figures stacked on top of it to mark certain groups of either people or zombies.

One man in particular turned to face her, the mayor of New York City. He was a very tall and imposing man wearing a suit that looked like he had been wrestled into. Yet despite his hulkish looks he exuded an aura of charisma and confidence that dispelled any sort of doubts one might have harbored upon seeing him for the first time. "Ah, you must be the Interpol agent." He exclaimed walking up to her "The name's Mike Haggar, mayor of New York City." He extended a hand which she shook "I'm special agent Chun-Li from the Chinese branch; it's very nice to make your acquaintance." The man gave a belly laugh as he crushed her hand in his "To be honest I was expecting someone a little more…big." Chun smiled demurely as she applied pressure to the man thumb forcing him to break off the handshake from the pain. "I'd imagine as both a wrestler and politician Mr. Haggar you'd know better than to judge a person by their size."

He gave another huge laugh and nodded enthusiastically "I'm glad Interpol sent their best agent, we're really in the shit here. By the way call me Mike." Leading her out of the room and into his office he gestured at the bar near the window "Would you like a drink Ms. Li?" "You can just call me Chun, Mike. I'd love any sort of tea of you have it." Mike busied himself with making their drinks while Chun looked about the office. It had the typical paraphernalia of a mayor's office, an American flag hung proudly on the wall behind his mahogany oak desk. Shelves containing a multitude of complex political textbooks lined the side walls. Along with a bundle of abandoned paper work stood a single picture of a boy and a girl smiling in front of a house with a baby in their arms.

"Here you are Chun" Mike said giving her a piping hot cup of green tea. "Please, take a seat." Once they were situated Mike began by pulling out a map identical to the one the men were reviewing outside "To be honest we're doing a lot better than how we were yesterday. We've beaten them back from some sectors completely and seriously thinned their ranks in other areas. However in these sectors-"he waved a hand over the northernmost part of the city "the presence is still very strong. Morale has been down lately and even with help we've been hard pressed to make much of a dent." "I see, and you want me to help?" Chun asked taking a sip of her tea. Mike shook his head "Naw, I want you to find out who did this." Chun's eyebrows rose in surprise "You think someone did this?" Instead of answering her Mike turned in his chair to gaze at the flag plastering the wall behind him.

"Have you ever heard of the Avengers, Chun?" he asked her. "No, I have not." She replied "Are they an agency of some kind?" There was a moment of silence between them. "Something like that. They're an organization of super heroes." "Superheroes?" Chun repeated skeptically "Like in the comic books, those really exist?" "I can't tell you how relived I am to hear your doubt." Mike replied wheeling around "but they do exist." He turned his computer monitor around and tapped a few keys. Some footage came up showing clips of events that had transpired yesterday. The clips shifted around four individual men aiding in the fight against the zombies dressed in the most garish of garments. One was wearing a tribute to the American flag with matching shield, another was dressed in a suit of flying armor. A third looked like a medieval fair reject while the last looked like a steroid junkie who had dyed himself green.

While they looked ridiculous they were more than capable of destroying the hordes of zombies around them. Chun watched with an trained eye as they proceeded to take out their attackers with a variety of means from martial to supernatural. "I've never heard of these guys before." Chun remarked as she watched the video "I would be hesitant to call them super heroes; I've seen techniques and technology that could emulate some of those actions in my travels." Her thoughts drifted to some of her opponents, the mysterious and her suit, Akuma and his Satsui no Hadou, heck she could shoot balls of kinetic chi, a feat not many people could claim to know about.

"Their actions aren't what concern me most." Mike replied shutting down the computer "It's the fact that I woke up yesterday morning and everyone knows who they are." "Come again" Chun asked tilting her head. "Two nights ago I went to bed after a normal day at the office; there were no such thing as the Avengers." Mike explained "After we began to deal with the zombie invasion, surreal in and of itself, but part way through some guy named Tony Stark called me in order to strategize when and where the Avengers would be deployed. I wasn't sure what the hell he was jabbering on about but I had bigger fish to fry so I just agreed to whatever. The, next thing I know, these guys are leading the charge and everyone is ecstatic about it. I turn to one guy and asked who the hell they are, and you should have seen it. Everyone got real quiet and turned to face me with these looks."

"It was as if I asked them what where the colors on the American flag. I was the only person in the room who didn't know of them." Mike sighed "I was even beginning to doubt myself here for a bit." "And you want me to do what?" she asked really confused about what was going on here "I want you to investigate who these guys are along with finding out the source of where the zombies are coming from. I can't let these guys roam about my city with powers like that but I'm too busy here to do anything on my own." Chun reflected on this particular piece of information for a second. It seemed impossible for the mayor to not know about a group of supposed "super heroes" gallivanting about his city. He was either seriously ill or incredibly misinformed since everyone else knew who they were. Still Mike Haggar did not seem mentally impaired or neglectful of the duties of his office. Tactfully she accepted his offer, she could start making her own enquiries about the group and Haggar himself.

The man broke into a relieved grin "thank you so much Chun. If there's anythin you need to start your investigation just let me know." "Just your number Mike, I'll call in with any info I manage to uncover." He gave her his card along with a map of the city he withdrew from a drawer from his desk. "This is just a guess but I think the zombie problem might be coming from here." He pointed to the northern part of the map where a large density of zombies lurked "Yes" she agreed "that would make sense. They would be gathered closely around the source." Tucking the map into her bag she got up from her seat "I'll call in about two hours from now." "I hate to say it but you'll have to go on foot." Mike said "All available vehicles are being used in patrols about the city or to usher people to safe houses." "It's a bit inconvenient but not a problem." She replied with a shrug. "Thank you so much for your help" Mike said also getting up "Allow me to escort you out."

Leading her back to the door they exchanged their goodbyes before Mike was called back over to the war table. Heading outside Chun noted that the copter was gone, most likely to the local air port to fill up before returning to New York. Making her way past the police barriers she headed north at a steady jog. The streets were completely barren of traffic save for the occasional police cruiser who halted her to ask her to return home. A quick flash of her badge informed them she was no civilian and she managed to get clearance into the districts that still had some zombies lurking about. "Make sure they don't bite you Ms. Li." One of the cops warned her "Once that happen there ain't no way to stop yourself from turning into one of them. Are you sure you don't want a vest or something?" She accepted a denim jacket thick enough to prevent a small or medium bite from breaking her skin.

Her first encounter with a zombie was about ten miles away from the mayor's office and, to be honest, she wasn't very impressed. She had been expecting some sort of predator but this sad sack of flesh seemed more likely to kill itself in some clumsy way than kill someone else. Vaulting forward Chun effortlessly decapitated it with kick. The head exploded like a rotted cabbage as its body immediately lost the small amount of tension keeping it upright. Chun felt an small amount of disappointment at how easy a foe it was, but common sense dictated that their strength lay in big numbers. She was in an area where most of them had been expunged, depriving them of their greatest advantage, an advantage that would work particularly well against her. As a martial artist she was used to one on one combat which had been her greatest obstacle when she joined Interpol. Eventually she got used to battling many enemies at a time which served her well when rounding up criminals and their ilk. However, from the reports she had been given the zombies were moving in groups typically exceeding twenty or more. That would require a more open ended mind set than Chun was used to than her typical arena style mind set, she'd have to be conscious of her fighting technique.

She didn't come across any more zombies and only a meager handful of people when the first two hours passed. Her phone in was brief and uninformative, there was nothing new Mike had dug up. He sounded pretty tired which caused Chun to wonder how much sleep he had gotten lately. She had gotten some decent shut eye on the plane from Beijing unlike Mike who seemed to be the sort to forsake rest till the job was done especially if it concerned the well fare of his constituents. He wished her the best before hanging up leaving her to her thoughts. She hadn't gotten too much farther before a sonic boom caught her attention. Overhead a streak of red and gold zipped past her leaving a faint blue trail across the cloudy grey sky. 'Iron Man, I think.' He was headed north at a very fast clip perhaps to deal with a problem or aid a band of survivors. Chun considered recalling Mike to ask him if it was serious but decided to leave it alone, he would call her if he needed her assistance.

Instead she dialed the Interpol branch in China in order to follow up on her second objective. Ducking into a nearby doorway she waited several moments for the cross continental signal to make it to the Beijing offices. "Yes? Hello, this is agent Chun Li." She said in perfect Cantonese "No, no, there's no problem with the mission. I was wondering if you could do me a favor? Could you look into our case files about a group called the Avengers based in New York City?" There was an abnormally long pause on the phone an for a second Chun thought the call might've been cut off. "Miss Li are you alright?" the operator answered worriedly "Yes, I am fine." Chun answered puzzled by the weird response "I'm surprised you're not aware of them. China is far from America but even the most uneducated farm hand knows of the Avengers. They have aided us several times during the recent years_." "It was as if I asked them what where the colors on the American flag. I was the only person in the room who didn't know of them." _Mike's words rang in Chun's ears whole a shiver crawled up her spine. "Oh! Excuse me I must go." She said hastily before hanging up.

'Mike said he fell asleep one day in a world without the Avengers then woke up the next day in a world with them.' She thought grimly 'Did that happen to me as well?' No matter how she reasoned the mystery would not offer up any more clues. Ultimately she did not have enough information to go on; more would be required before she could form an explanation. Shaking her head she returned to the business at hand but not before bumping up her investigation of the Avengers much higher on her priorities list. As she journeyed north for the next twelve hours she played with possible explanations for their sudden appearance and notoriety.

By the time dinner rolled around she had managed to enter the border between the controlled districts and the hostile ones. It was clearly outlined by a row of police vehicles stationed horizontally across the street forming a barrier. The officers on guard looked either tired or agitated at the prospect of another long night. There was ammo carefully organized in stacks around each policeman with wrappers from foodstuffs surrounding strewn all about them. Their lieutenant, a young black woman went immediately into action the minute she saw Chun. "Stop right there! This is the last controlled zone in the district; beyond there we have limited control .Please return to your house immediately." She barked marching toward the Interpol agent. Flashing her badge at the woman Chun introduced herself "My name is Chun Li and I am under orders of the mayor to check out the area beyond here. Please let me through." The policewoman eyed the badge with a critical eye for a long minute before handing it back to her. "Listen, I don't mean no disrespect but you don't look equipped to deal with this problem. I lost some good men out here and I know we've been taking sizable casualties, these aren't hoodlums they're monsters and if you go in there be sure to expect hell."

"Thank you for your concern, I'll take your advice to heart but I must continue through." The policewoman sighed before ushering over one of her men "Bring the camera Huntington." Once the man had forked it over the lieutenant quickly scrolled through something. "All right, listen closely; we've been fighting these things for about two days now and there are a bunch of different ones." "Yes, I've fought one on the way here." Chun explained "It didn't put up much of a challenge." "It was one of these, right?" the woman asked pointing the phone at Chun. On the screen was the slouching undead corpse she had destroyed on the way there. Chun nodded her confirmation causing the police woman to retract the phone "Those are the easy ones, like shooting fish in a barrel. They come in big groups but not all that deadly though if they bite ya you're a goner."

The next pic she showed Chun was a dog zombie "These ones are smarter with a pack mentality. They employ basic animal tactics like ambushes and they join with other groups." The next one was some sort of unholy union between frog and man. "These ones are real strong; they can rip through metal with their hands. Don't let em get close." The next one was a bit blurry but Chun could see it was a really big bird "These giant ravens like to dive bomb your position and claw out your eyes, its generally part of a pack comprised mostly of…these." The next picture was one of a very well preserved zombie, other than the off color skin it resembled a human very closely "These little bastards are what get you. They are real smart and can even use weapons or employ advanced tactics. Gregory over there-"she nodded to a man with a look of dull shock plastered over his face "his whole squad was taken out by a group of these guys who strapped bombs to the dog zombies and blew them up. He just managed to avoid injury and regroup with us here."

Chun nodded "Thank you for this information. I'll use it wisely." The policewoman shrugged dismissively "Your funeral then." Walking between the cars she could feel every single officer boring holes into the back of her neck making her feel like a prisoner of death row heading to their execution. 'Been through worse' she thought as a confidence booster and she wasn't lying to herself either. Over the years she had been in some really hairy situations but had managed to fight her way out of each one. Shadaloo or zombies, it made no difference to her.

For the first twenty or so feet she had to carefully maneuver her way around mounds of rotting corpses and shell cases. The street ahead was strewn with garbage; graffiti littered the concrete walls filled with broken windows, a regular American hood. As if on cue, the moment she was out of the view of the police a group of frog men materialized from the shadows of the buildings. There were five of them surrounding her and ready to strike. With a lunge, two assaulted her from both sides, their fists ready to flatten her into a fine paste. Chun smirked, their foot work was sloppy; this would be no problem at all. She waited for them to close in until they were mere inches away from her before springing into action. Twisting her body about, she dodged both blows effortlessly before knocking the both of them off their feet with a well-placed sweep. Quickly she sent a blast of Kikoken at one of her downed opponents blasting the head open like a pumpkin. Back flipping on reflex she slammed her knew into the crown of the other one rising up behind her sending him back down in pieces.

Silently the remaining frog men watched their allies fall with blank stares as if they couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Suddenly they snapped to like if they had heard some kind of signal and launched themselves at her with surprising speed. With a flip Chun bounded over the head of one and sent it sprawling with a retaliatory strike. As it scrambled to get back up it the other two linked arms and charged forward in a shoulder tackle. Chun crouched and her legs shot forward like pistons halting their advance while turning their legs into fragments. Pitifully they tried to climb forward in order to attack her on their arms only to be take two more Kikoken blasts to the face. The final one tried to hit her with a shattering blow that managed to create cracks on the side walk, a testament to its power.

Un-phased, Chun blasted the head off its neck with a kick, noting that this maneuver would probably be the best way to finish them off in a decisive manner. Satisfied all enemies had been beaten, she turned around to continue her way down the street when she caught sight of it. One of those human monsters had been watching the battle from further down the side walk; it disappeared the minute she took notice of its presence.

She considered giving chase but hesitated, these other zombies had managed to sneak up on her effortlessly which was no mere feat. Reluctantly, she let it go, choosing to continue at her own pace while keeping her senses honed. Looking back on this decision Chun would be very thankful she had chosen caution as the next half hour would be fraught with waves of zombies of all varieties being thrown her way. Had she chosen to run after the watching zombie she would have been ambushed within the first two minutes of giving chase which most likely would have gotten her bitten. Her caution allowed her to detect the ambush early enough to launch preemptive strikes. Every few steps she took down the street were broken up by yet another wave of zombies turning her progress into a slog.

As she fought these hordes she learned two very important things that would become invaluable in the future. First, she had been absolutely spot on about her battle mentality monitoring her surroundings. All too often she found herself going into stances that would allow the zombies to get too close or using destructive kicks on a single enemy allowing the rest of the horde to attack her from behind. She found that sweeping attacks with a shot of Kiko Ken to the head was an excellent way to finish a zombie off. The second thing she realized that accepting that denim jacket had been a huge stroke of luck. More than once the zombies had managed to get close enough to attempt to nibble on her arms or the back of her neck. While she fought she noted that if the opportunity presented itself she should get some pants made from sturdy material, her tights were getting soaked from all the rotten blood her kicks were producing.

As the sun was beginning to set Chun managed to destroy the last zombie that had been a part of the latest group. This naturally caused the watcher zombie to scamper farther down the road no doubt baiting her into another ambush. Chun stopped to catch her breath and weigh her options. On one hand it was getting late, the added advantage of the night would turn these little skirmishes from manageable to impossible. Of course, if she was going to hunker down for the night where would she go? She was an hour way from the police barricade, more than enough time for the sun to set completely, which would force her to race back leaving her rear open to pursuers. Looking about Chun noticed she was in a shopping district filled with dumpy little all 24/7 convenience stores. She was considering barricading herself in one of those when a human yelp split the air not more than a few feet away from her. There was a crashing noise as well but she didn't pause to analyze what it could be, she was running full tilt towards it.

Rounding a nearby bend she saw a guy slumped on the ground unconscious with shards of glass poking into his arms and legs. "Call me that again you sonofabitch and the zombies will be the least of your worries" someone screamed from inside the building. With a lunge Chun jumped through the broken window sill fully intending to either save someone from the zombies or beat them half to death for alerting their positions to the undead horde. She landed between two tables near the front of the building where the large panel window had been allowing customers to look out the window. She startled one of the occupants sitting at one of the tables so bad he fell back onto the floor spilling his drink all over his plaid shirt.

Once her adrenaline had abated somewhat Chun noticed with a small blush she had just charged into some kind of dingy American, biker bar lifted straight out of the nineties. A large pool table was in one corner of the room near the bar where a fat bald man was picking his nails. The only light in the room came from the sparse liquor signs and a single stain glassed light hanging over the pool table. Every single resident was wearing either plaid, leather, a baseball cap or some combination of the three. The whole place stank of cigarettes and cheap beer giving the atmosphere just the charge it needed in order to be summed up in one word: seedy. "Well look at that, boys, the stripper's showed up." One of the men called out rising up from his seat "Bout damn time too. Any longer and I'd have been knocking heads." He swaggered up to Chun and put his arms around her in a casually possessive way. "How bout it honey melon, want to go upstairs and spend the rest of our miserable lives makin love til the zombies come?" A swift kick to the knee busted it allowing her to follow up with a blow to the stomach. He keeled over with a grunt causing a stir among the men. "Damnit!" one swore "Who the hell paid for an S&M hooker with special emphasis on the S?"

Chun wanted to insist she was a special agent not some broke call girl but from prior experience with hoodlums like these she knew it was futile. Without a word she turned about to look for an exit and spied one on her left side. As she picked her way around the men, some rambunctious from her actions and some passed out from the amount they had been drinking since the invasion she grabbed the knob. "Wouldn't do that if I were you." A really deep voice warned her, had it not been for her excellent hearing she would have missed it over the din of the bar. "The zombies get way more active at night. You'll die before the hours up, Miss Federal Agent. Turning to her right she spied the speaker partially hidden by shadows about the bar. The stranger was hunkered down at the end of the bar nursing some kind of beer in a dirty glass. Like the rest he was dressed like a hood with a cheap leather jacket and denim jeans. "How did you know I worked for the government?" she asked, strolling up to him, her interest peeked. "Civilians don't have moves like those and if you were military you'd be packing" he replied simply. Taking a seat next to him she tried to see his face but the darkness in the room only gave her the bare necessities. He was older, late thirties or so, with black hair cropped into an odd style, like if it were fur or something. Other than that she was clueless, any further investigation would require her to violate polite personal spaces. "My name's Chun Li" she said introducing herself "Do you know a lot about the zombies." He grunted "Just the basics, it's only been two days after all." "So what do you suggest I do" she asked.

"Barney'll rent you a room for fifty dollars. It'll be up on the second floor with a lock in order to buy the druggies enough time to stash any grass. Lock up, grab some shut eye, head out in the morning, it's just that easy." And indeed it was, with one small inquiry Chun returned to the man with a dirty key hanging on a greasy looking leather strap. "Thanks for the advice" she said warmly "But what about everyone else." Her gaze swept over the bar at the other patrons rollicking away even with the window out leaving a perfect opening for zombies to enter by. "What about them?" he asked drinking from his glass. "Shouldn't they evacuate or something?" she asked, they might have been scum but they were people too. "You ever hear about the guys playing poker on the Titanic?" he asked her without stopping to receive her answer "It's like that, the end can't be near if they're having a hell of a time even if they're neck deep in shit. Better to save yourself than drown trying to convince these shits." Chun took a second look back at the patrons; they were currently singing something that could have resembled a Metallica song if they weren't so drunk. They were beaming with happiness completely unaware of the danger outside, probably by conscious choice no less.

It would leave a bad taste in her mouth but Chun decided that the man at the bar was right, if these slobs wanted their last few minutes to be ones soaked in whiskey, far be it from her to try and restart the flight or fight reflex back into their inebriated minds. As she turned to head upstairs she looked at the man. "Will you be up shortly?" she asked. The man shook his head "I'm gonna finish my drink first." She frowned "I thought you said this ship was sinking." He looked at her letting her see his eyes in the light of the bar, they were black "It is sinking but I know how to swim." It was very cocky and Chun felt a bit disillusioned but before she left them to her fate she asked one last question "What's your name?" "Logan." He answered before he turned back to his drink causing Chun to head upstairs.

The upstairs was just as dingy and smelly as the first floor but Logan had been dead on about the locks. Along with the key lock there were two sturdy deadbolts on the door along with a chain and even a bike lock. Feeling reasonably safe Chun checked the room once she locked the door. It was windowless, muggy with no ventilation of any kind which was normally horrifying in an ordinary circumstance but in this particular zombie infested one it was almost optimal. Stripping the bed of the filthy sheets Chun used her denim jacket and qipao as bedding. A quick check of the bath room was disgusting beyond belief but the water was still clear allowing Chun to wash her tights.

Even with the room conditions Chun found herself to be very tired, she had been moving around a lot that day with very little rest or food. Curling up into a ball in order to avoid touching anything more than her own clothes Chun found herself falling asleep faster than she expected. Even with the locks she had been spooked enough by the zombies to place her trust in their sturdiness completely so she tried to keep her sleep light so she could be ready for anything. Pathetically she lasted about ten minutes or so before falling into a very deep sleep.

While the Interpol agent lay upstairs dead to the world Logan watched out the broken window spotting shambling shadows begin to emerge from the dark. The street lights with their harsh yellow light gave an air of surreal horror to their endless numbers. Even with the imminent threat of death mere feet away from them, the men in the bar continued to party in an uncontrolled shaky way, doused in plenty of whiskey. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the bar tender quietly pick up his cash register and escape into the back room. From the sound of multiple doors with multiple locks he had always been prepared for this eventuality causing Logan to grin wryly. 'You sick little opportunistic bastard you' he thought impressed by the man's pragmatic greed. The bartender had escaped not a moment too soon, like a snake entering a den of newborn wolves one of the zombies stuck its rotting head in looking for a tasty meal.

Choosing one of the drunks it lunged and grabbed one before retreating with its prize kicking and screaming in protest as if it was the cops hauling it away rather than an undead monster. At some points the screams of protest gave way to shrieks of terror which almost covered the tearing of flesh and bone as the zombie and a few of its friends began to devour the poor bastard. The other poor, doomed souls seemed not to have noticed as the others began to rollick about in a frenetic manner, as if trying to get in as much fun as they could before they were eaten. Realizing that the shouting inside the bar was indeed food the rest of the zombies rushed forward trying to climb over one another as they entered the bar through the window. Like some sort of flood made up of undead groaning flesh the zombies burst forth and began to attack the men inside.

A few went down before it somehow managed to push it way through the inebriated minds of the bikers, their ship was sinking and they were mouth deep in the water already. Logan watched as expressions of fear dawned on their faces as the men tried to escape from the horde. Some used bottles and pool cues to beat the advancing horde back while others turned tail and fled. It was totally useless, if not because of the monsters than because of their drunken states rendering their strikes soft and inaccurate while the ones escaping turned about like blind chickens trying to determine which way was out.

Soon their cries of surprise became screams of fright once they were caught and a few of them went from screaming to groaning as the virus spread through them corrupting their flesh. Out of the twenty or so guys there, only three were spared in order to bolster the size of the horde. These new ones joined in the unholy feast spread about them chowing down on the flesh of their former companions. Logan watched them neutrally as he continued to sip at his beer. The taste was reminiscent of donkey piss mixed with gas with the tiniest hint of what might have been really watered down beer at one point in its life but he had tasted worse before, a lot worse. It wasn't until the zombies had finished off their massive meal till they realized they had missed some dessert. With awkward head twitches they spotted him over down by the end and began to stagger toward him their eyes burning red like devils.

In one smooth move Logan downed the vile drink in one gulp smacking his lips as he savored the after taste. Turning his gaze to the crowd of zombies stalking toward him in a leisurely pace as if they knew full well he had no intention to run from them. Stepping down from the bar stool he began to remove his coat in an equally slow, casual manner "You bastards ought to know I'm not really the kinda of guy who likes having his happy hour cut short." He placed his coat over the side of the bar before pausing a moment. He knew that if he fought his clothes were going to get ruined and while he could stand the stench of his own unwashed body the thought of walking about in clothes drenched in rotten blood made even him cringe. He growled a bit at the alternative to getting his clothes dirty but reluctantly he began to strip. Pulling his shirt over his head with more urgency this time he tossed it onto his coat before quickly fiddling with the buckle to his pants. "You chuckle heads are going to force me to bath after this." He muttered angrily at them as he shed his pants and boxer shorts revealing that the slightly cool evening air had not diminished his size in the slightest. He kicked off his shoes before summoning his claws with a snikt and a pissed off grin "I really, really hate baths." He yelled at them before charging forward, bare-ass naked, slicing through them like butter. Like some kind of hive mind, every zombie went on the attack, trying to bite the nude bolt of sweaty flesh barreling through their ranks.


	4. Angels and Agents

Chapter 4: Angels and Agents

Night had fallen upon the city once again bringing forth a weak sliver of a moon with the whine of sirens, as they raced about to combat the zombies. Upon one of the roofs of the skyscrapers Malice finally regained consciousness, albeit if only for a few minutes. Her body was still fatigued by the Angel Awakening; her mind was still being beckoned at every turn to sleep once again. Her limbs were as heavy as rocks as she began to pick herself across the roof, step by step. Malice wasn't sure how long she had been out for since it was night again, but if her hunger and thirst were any indication, probably for more than a day.

She had no idea exactly where she was going other than some sort of small square box that was up on the roof with her. Her hands clawed the concrete as she pushed herself forward cursing the world with every ragged breath. "Idiotic Sprites, Utgard take you." She muttered "I will see the occupants of this pitiful world harvested for Master Hector, if not for his glory than for their decision to build towns without food or water." After a long slog she came upon the door and to her small delight she found there was a door on it that lead inside. Getting up on her knees was hell but Malice managed to endure it long enough to grab the handle and open it. Once inside she found a spiral of stairs leading downward into the living quarters which just infuriated her more, these fool Sprites lived to inconvenience her.

Forced to either climb down the stairs or die isolated via starvation Malice was forced to undergo the humiliation of crawling down the stairs. Her wings scraped against the walls and the banister, while on occasion she'd lose her balance and tumble down one flight of stairs. She continued to climb for what seemed like an eternity, Hell itself had nothing on these Sprite buildings, before coming to rest on one of the landings. She was taking a small break to catch her breath while checking how many stairs were left. A black endless void framed by more stairs met her gaze and she would've swore if she wasn't so damn tired. Fighting off her growing fatigue she prepared to position herself to begin to climb down yet another set of stairs when a door on the landing she was on opened.

A small Sprite child walked out of it, curiosity written on it's face which turned to wonder as she spied the Grim Angel collapsed in front of her. The two stared at each other for awhile before the child turned and ran out the door. Weighing her options Malice decided to see what was on the other side instead of tumbling down more thrice damned stairs. She entered into a well-lit hallway marked with doors that had numbers on them. She hadn't gotten far down the hall when the Sprite child returned bringing an adult woman with her, most likely her mother. "Sweetie, I know your scared but there are no such things as an..an…an…an.." While she had been dragged down the hall by her child the woman hadn't gotten a good glimpse at first of Malice. Once the child stopped, pointing at Malice did the Sprite woman jerk her head up and got a glimpse of the Grim Angel on the ground. "See I told you I wasn't lying." The child crowed triumphantly "I bet it's a guardian angel, Mrs. Rinston told me they exist." The mother didn't answer, she was far too busy trying to decide if this was a dream or not. Once Malice began to move, having grown tired of being a spectacle, the woman's brain finally managed to confirm that yes, this was a real angel.

"Roger! Roger!" she screamed grabbing the child and ran back down the hall creaming the entire time. Sadly Malice had more troubling problems at hand; her vision was starting to go in and out again. "Dammit…" were her last words before she blacked out again leaving her body blocking the hallway. The hall was quiet for only a minute afterward as the woman returned with a posse of men in tow. "See, see, I told you I wasn't crazy." The woman said hysterically grabbing the arm of one of the men "Is it one of those monsters?" The men stared at the angel for a second till on of them piped up "Naw, it doesn't look like one of them zombies." "I still say we should kill it just in case." Another replied cocking his gun "You crazy? That ain't no monster, that's an angel probably one of the heavenly host or something." "Why does she have black wings then? Aren't angels supposed to have wings and a halo and a harp and stuff?" "Oh man Steve, you might be onto something. Maybe it's like that one horror movie with the fallen angel who eats children, you guys remember that one."

"Shut up, all of ya." The leader, an aged gentleman with a fluffy white beard who would not have looked out of place in the woods of Russia "Let's take her to Maria, she knows the most about this kinda stuff." The men shuffled their way around her "She's kinda hot." One of the men remarked earning him a smack on the head "Don't be a teenager Tyler, you don't know what kinda STDs angels have." After some more arguing followed by more smacks to the head via their leader, the men carefully hoisted Malice up and carried her to an apartment far down the hall to the apartment lounge. They placed her on a couch making sure her wings were carefully laid propped up on some upholstered chairs. One of the men went to grab Maria Crinston while the rest crowded around the angel as if she were a television. "Damn Tyler, you're right she is pretty." "See, told ya. I wonder if angels have boyfriends." The leader rolled his eyes "I admit she looked like she fell of the Sistine Chapel's roof but for the love of Brooklyn Tyler stop drooling over her."

Before they could say anything more a Hispanic woman appeared at the doorway and pushed her way through the crowd till she was right in front of the angel. She sad something in Spanish the men couldn't make out and crossed herself several times "Well Mrs. Crinston" the leader asked gently as he strolled up next to her "Good or evil?" the woman started in dazed Spanish but quickly realized her mistake and swapped to an accented English "It is not a devil, I have seen devils before in pictures." She said not taking her eyes off Malice "Where did you find her?" "A bevy of stories erupted out of the mouths of everyone present but it wasn't till the leader had nearly beaten everyone to death before Roger's wife stepped forward. "Isabel found her in the stairwell." This was met by a nod from Maria "These zombies, could it be Revelations?" she thought aloud causing some of the men to whisper among themselves "What's the Revelation?" "You idiot, don'tcha read yer bible. It's the end of the world." "Hey man I didn't know nothing 'bout that, I'm an atheist." He glanced at the angel "Or at least I was."

Maria turned to the elderly leader "Boyd, do can we please take care of her here. I think having her around will keep us safe, perhaps even spare us in the end when the trumpets blow." Boyd kindly patted Maria's shoulder "Don't you worry none Mrs. Crinston, we'll take good care of her though I don't rightly know what angels eat." Maria cautiously placed her hand on the angel's head, just to check to make sure it was corporeal, when she suddenly cried out "Aya! This angel is burning up and as dry as a bone. Fetch water, quickly!" One of the men went scampering off to grab some water as Roger's wife also exited in a hurry. "So, uh, Mrs. Crinton? Do angels have boyfriends or anything?" Tyler asked, triggering a barrage of punches from Maria. He couldn't understand her rapid fire Spanish aside from something called Sodom and Gomorrah and didn't get a chance to defend himself as he was promptly thrown out of the room. Once they managed to calm Maria down they gave the angel some water, at that point Roger's wife returned with some soup she had. "I don't know if she can eat it but I don't really have anything else." After some debate they decided giving the angel some human food wouldn't hurt and while it didn't revive her she accepted it all the same without any side effects.

Within the hour the lounge became a kind of miniature shrine to the unconscious heavenly occupant with people of many religions beginning to pile holy objects next to her for a speedy recovery. Maria brought in her own statue of the Holy Virgin to join in vigil with six other statues. Several crucifixes were hung about the walls and the roof of the room being hung there by each of the occupants of the apartment hoping their faith would save them from the end. She was daily bathed in the holy water Maria culminated from other Catholic families. Many families brought their children into the room to pray for deliverance or to touch her clothes or hands in an attempt to invoke a blessing upon themselves. The line to see her stretched down the hall with families breathless to see their heavenly guest waiting patiently for hours till the light of a new day broke upon the horizon.

Chun woke up feeling as refreshed as one can be after spending the night in a rundown, old room. While stretching her tired limbs she listened for any signs of life beneath her, there was none. Sighing with a bit of frustration, she put her qipao and jacket back on and cautiously began to descend the stairs. Peeking out of the crack of the door she saw nothing "alive" save for mounds of corpses strewn about the room in a haphazard manner. Had those drunken bikers managed to put up a bit of a fight? Feeling sure that she was safe she stepped out of the door getting a better view of the room. There was skin all over the place, strands of wafer thin strips mixed in with a pile of sawdust like flakes, along with many arms, legs and some heads. The morning breeze stirred the stagnant stench of rotting blood causing Chun's stomach to roll nauseously. "Mornin" a voice greeted behind her. Chun whirled about on reflex launching a kick that stopped just a hair from Logan's nose.

He was sitting on the same stool he was on last night drinking, a glass of beer; it was as if he had never moved during the attack. "How in the word did you survive?" she asked incredulously as she retracted her foot. "Told ya, I know how to swim." He informed her taking a sip from his glass. "That doesn't answer my question." She said a touch crossly. Logan shrugged nonchalantly not replying, his secrets were going to be his secrets. "Do you want breakfast?" he asked causing her eyebrows to rise slightly. "Huh? Breakfast?" she parroted looking around "Here?" Logan pointed one of the shelves behind the bar. "Should be peanuts or something in there. It ain't a continental but you gotta work with what you're given." Walking around, she opened the door and came away with several bags of peanuts and some white bread. Sitting next to Logan she split the meager amount of food between the two of them and dug in.

In the light of the morning Chun could see his features much better, she had been right with the late thirties but possibly leaning more to early forties. He was fairly attractive with rugged looks and carried himself with an attitude that screamed "back off". He seemed like the type to be able to rough up a few zombies but to defeat a horde of them? In any case Chun wanted to get a move on as quickly as she could; hopefully she could locate the zombie source before nightfall. Finishing the rest of her meal she jumped off the stool "You should get to safety." "I can take care of myself girl." He snarked back wolfing down the rest of his meal before following her out. "Where you headed" he asked her. "North" she replied with a shrug "Why do you ask?" "I'm coming with ya." Chun quirked her eyebrow "I can take care of myself." "Never said you couldn't." he replied "But my daughter's missing and another set of eyes would help." Chun noticed the sliver of worry that entered his typically rock voice "What makes you think she's up north?"

He smirked knowingly "She's the kind of gal who winds up in dangerous situations." Chun frowned at the man's apparent mirth at the fact his daughter could be in mortal peril. "And you're not worried at all?" she asked getting another smirk from Logan "She's a big girl. She knows how to take care of herself." Chun wasn't convinced but then again it really wasn't anything she could do about it "I guess she takes after you." He gave a barking belly laugh which startled her with its suddenness "She'd claw your eyes out if she heard you say that." He informed her as he began walking down the street. Conflicted over whether this was a good idea or not Chun followed him to a nearby parking garage. She waited outside till he wheeled out of the garage riding a motorcycle. Grabbing the helmet he offered her she sat behind him. "Nice bike" she commented fastening it then gripping his middle. "It ain't mine" he replied revving the engine loud and blasting down the street. Chun rolled her eyes and said nothing deciding to concentrate on looking out for zombies.

The hordes were out in full strength with shambling corpses covering every inch of the street and sidewalk. With an incredible amount of skill Logan either maneuvered around them or ran them over. There were a few occasions the riders were forced to dismount in order to clear the road or deal with pursuing dog zombies. Chun took care of most of them with kicks while Logan kept the bike upright and ready to go in case a quick escape was necessary. Sometimes a zombie would shamble over in an effort to bite him but he dealt with it easily with a few ferocious punches to the face. By noon they had crossed a huge amount of distance and, if the numbers were any indication, they were getting closer to the epicenter.

Turning his face to the left he yelled back at her "We're not going to be able to drive forward any longer. Get ready to jump." Chun would have asked why he wanted her to jump but the group of zombies dead ahead of them plus the boost of speed Logan gave the motorcycle clued her in. Hunching down she leaped off the motorcycle with a flip landing on the road behind the motorcycle. Logan waited a second longer before jumping off to the side with considerably less grace. The motorcycle crashed into the crowd cutting a swath through them trailing broken bones and rotten blood. Running up to his side Chun got into a stance "Remember, no showboating, Finish them quick" He instructed her. Chun nodded "Watch yourself."

The battle was extremely fierce requiring Chun to draw upon every experience she had with the zombies from the start. She continued the tried and true tactic of using sweeps to knock down a group of them following up with rapid fire Kikoken blasts to finish them off. More than once a zombie managed to grab onto her arm and try to bite her making her more thankful than ever she had it. A third lesson she learned was putting the zombie species in a priority, you could easily get caught up fighting cannon fodder and let a dog or a human zombie sneak up behind you. She always aimed for the dogs first as they could attack from a lower angle than the rest usually aiming for the calves. The human monsters were next as they often wielded weapons mostly knives but a few had stun guns and one or two even had shotguns. Luckily she had managed to spot the gun toting ones early and dispatched them before they could harm anyone.

The frog men were more dangerous than the cannon fodder but only if they got the jump on you though their numbers were a mere drop in the bucket in comparison to the regular zombies. Time had no impact on a fight, something Chun had experienced over her years as an Interpol cop so she wasn't sure how long they had been fighting when Logan tore his way through the crowd until he was next to her "We got problems." He shouted as he fought behind her "Those damn birds are going to be a pain in the ass to fight." With a kick Chun knocked down four zombies, giving herself enough time to peek up at the sky. Several demonic ravens circled the air crying out to their fellow avian allies about the dinner was being prepared below them. "Can you handle the rabble down here?" she asked sending out a shot of Kikoken into two of the zombies she had downed, finishing them off. "I'm fine just get those flying shits before they get us." He barked at her.

Chun focused her energy into her feet and crouched down slightly as she prepared her attack. Then with a "Kiai" she shot as the zombie herd at a lightning pace, kicking her way through them until she reached the building on the left side of the street, With a jump she grabbed the fire escape structure bolted to the side of the building and pulled herself up onto it, zombies nipping at her feet the entire time. Climbing the rig up onto the roof she found herself about ten feet or so under the ravens, weighing her options. She could try to hit them with blasts of Kikoken but the projectile was far too inaccurate at long range. Looking about she spotted a brick chimney on the top of the roof, a plan quickly formulated in her mind. With a kick she demolished the roof into chunks of rubble giving her the projectiles she needed to deal with the ravens.

Grabbing one of the chunks with her hands she kicked it at one of the ravens with incredible speed and accuracy. It went down with a squawk alerting the other ones of Chun's tactics. They switched their target to her and began to wheel about her in a tight circle. Not waiting on them to attack Chun shot three more rocks into the air knocking a raven out of the air. It landed a few feet away from her allowing a quick kick to the head to end its pitiful existence. Two ravens broke away from the flock and dive bombed the Interpol agent in perfect synch. Doing a one handed handstand Chun twisted about, braining one with a kick while the other blazed past her side, missing, before returning to the safety of its flock. Not wanting to continue risking her chances at getting broadsided by one of them Chun leapt into the air gathering her inner chakra into a ball. With a "Kiai" she expanded the ball into a giant ball of swirling blue-purple energy that blasted the ravens out of the sky.

They fell back onto the ground stunned making it easy for Chun to finish them off. Once they were dead Chun checked the sunny blue sky for any other birds that might have escaped her attack. Assured she had wiped out all of the ones in her immediate area, Chun took this small lull to regain her breath. As she panted she began to plan out an escape path. She still had plenty of fight in her but if she kept expending chakra at this pace she would be too exhausted to fight. With the motorcycle gone they would have to escape on foot if they wanted to retreat. Most likely they would have to find somewhere to hole up until they regained their strength. Her anxieties were interrupted by a bestial roar from below. 'Is it a new kind of zombie?' she wondered as she ran over to the edge 'Be careful Logan.' But it wasn't a zombie, it was Logan who was roaring and snarling like a crazed animal. From her vantage point she could see her battle partner cutting through the zombies with claws that were coming out of his hands. With what she had seen during her life as an Interpol agent this wasn't what surprised her the most. She had seen tons of crazy contraptions that could work similarly, the mysterious could channel lightning with her punches thanks to a mysterious suit she wore.

What scared her was the way Logan acted; she had never seen anything like it. It was as if Logan had decided to shed his humanity adopting the fighting style of a beast. He kicked, slashed, stabbed and decapitated anything that came close to him accompanied with the noises that came from his mouth, snarls meshed with growls punctuated with more roars of bestial delight from the carnage. Chun hesitated on top of that roof, scared of what she should do. She wanted to drop back down and assist him but…with the way he fought it made her fear that he would turn on her. Even Akuma, a man who called himself a devil fought in a manner that was hardly sporting but at least the movements could be categorized as human.

While she watched, the distant sound of a thin, reedy shriek caught her attention. One of the zombies was cutting through the crowd in front of Logan, she had never seen this one before but it screamed danger. It was huge with a burlap sack over its head wielding a chainsaw that it used to cut through its brethren in order to get closer to Logan. The man was too far into the depths of blood fueled carnage to even register the fact that this horrendous creature was aiming for him. Without a thought, Chun jumped off the roof aiming a kick at the giant zombie. No matter what, she couldn't stand to watch someone in die in a situation where she could've saved them. Her kick blew the head of the monster right off transforming the burlap sack into the head's carrying case. The rest of the body fell forward onto the chainsaw stopping the edge with its density.

She couldn't worry about Logan's leave of humanity at this moment, there were zombies to kill. Once again Chun entered that battle, her only conscious thought was a reminder to not get too close to Logan but other than that it was pure instinct all the way. Eventually she came out of her stupor as the number of enemies thinned rapidly. She couldn't tell how long she was fighting but it must have been a considerable chunk of time. From her initial observations she noted the human zombies retreating from the battle at a hurried pace bringing most of the zombie dogs with them leaving the cannon fodder zombies and a few frog zombies to buy them time to escape.

The rest of the group was effortlessly mopped up by her and Logan leaving them with an amazing amount of corpses about their feet. Carefully stepping around them she turned to look at Logan fearful of what she might find. He was alive, this she was extremely thankful of, but his bestial persona remained. He viewed her through eyes devoid of anything, save instinct, growling at her the entire time like a beast about to pounce. "Logan" she said as gently as she could "please calm down." This only proved to be the spark that set him off as the lunged at her with a wicked grin on his face. She rolled out of the way wheeling about the small circle they were situated in; about them lay a sea of stinking corpses. She was trapped with no quick way of escape by the bodies of those she had slain; there was something disgustingly poetic about that thought.

He turned about on all fours like a monster his body tensed for a second pounce. Chun sighed and got into a stance "Sorry, Logan I hope this won't hurt too much." He lunged again only to receive a kick to the face which sent him sprawling to the side. He picked himself up slowly and for a brief, fleeting second she hoped this had knocked the sense back into him. Instead it just seemed to enrage him more as he got back up on two legs and came slashing away at her with his hand claws. His advance stopped her from attacking him unless she wanted to get cut; instead she backed up keeping out of range as best she could. Once she had some space she ran forward straight into his claws then at the last second dove into slide that made his claws swipe thin air. Kicking the feet out from under him Chun wheeled about from her slide backing up again as Logan picked himself up off the cement.

He had tried on all fours then on two legs so Chun wasn't terrible caught off guard as the berserk man took to the sky. She was caught off guard by his attack, she had been expecting him to attack with his claws but instead he launched a drop kick. She jumped away to try and avoid him but he knocked her onto her back with a thud. She rolled to the side to avoid a claw swipe getting a close glimpse at the blood stained claw. 'If I get cut once it's over.' She thought picking herself up off the ground 'I need to end this now.' He rushed forward with a yawp his claws cocked to end this with a stab to the chest. Chun threw her torso back dodging both claws while kneeing him in the second. She jerked herself back up taking advantage of Logan staggering back to launch him into the air with a kick. As he fell down she launched into her Spinning Bird Kick slamming her foot into his mid rift sending him into pile of corpses. Gasping for breath she waited to see if her opponent began to rise, hoping to heaven she hadn't seriously harmed him. Logan groaned underneath the corpse pile and picked himself out of it. He stood up allowing Chun to glance at his eyes, they had returned to their normal alert gaze. "Are you ok" Chun asked feeling guilty "I'm sorry about that." Logan said nothing choosing instead to check the state of his clothing, irreparable, then pushed his way past Chun and began to scale his way over the corpses in his journey north.

Sighing at her predicament Chun followed him at a respectable distance confused as hell about Logan's actions but realizing that he was not in a mood to chat. Checking her phone she was surprised to see that the battle had taken about two hours give or take a half hour. She couldn't help but worry about the time constraints they were facing, t could easily take a week to get through the north of the city where the problem was the worst. Chun knew she couldn't weather too many more of those battle royales especially if her ally was given to rampant blood lust. For lengthier amount of time than she would have liked, she considered ditching Logan for her own protection but two factors made that proposition more dangerous than travelling with him.

First and most obvious, Chun wouldn't be able to handle another horde that large by herself. He had easily killed two thirds of the zombies back there completely unaided by her; the man was a weapon unto himself. Second, he knew the area much better than Chun which had a multitude of benefits. He probably had an idea where they could stay for the night as well as roads where they could take to avoid roaming hordes. Understanding now more than ever how high the odds were stacked against her she decided to stick it out for a bit longer.

The battle they had might have been time consuming but it also greatly helped them progress quickly as well. With no vehicle in sight to use they had to hoof it, and with most of the zombies in the immediate area having been wiped out by them, they journeyed forth with no surprises waiting for them behind street corners. Every now and then one of the human zombies would go scurrying away into the alleys once they were spotted by the pair. It was chillingly obvious that these were the ones capable of planning attacks; they were probably observing them in order to catch them in another ambush. Logan said nothing the entire day besides a few feral growls at the human zombies peeking at them.

Nightfall forced them to find accommodations, a lonely grocery store proved to be the perfect hide out. Some opportunistic raiders had broken in stripping the place fairly thoroughly but a sizeable amount of food was still present. After boarding up the room Chun got to work making a small fire while Logan wandered off somewhere. Nestling some tin cans filled with various foodstuffs Chun stretched her sore limbs. Two days of crazy zombie dodging was nothing to the Interpol Agent but the fact that the situation was filled with unknown variables put her on edge. Sighing she wandered about the store a bit, not too far from the fire lest she ruin their meal. Grimacing she wiped her tongue against her teeth, no matter how many missions she went on Chun still hated the feeling of fuzz from not brushing her teeth. Fruitlessly she combed the cleaned out shelves around the cash out lanes looking for some kind of candy, gum preferably, to help ease the grimy feeling plaguing her mouth.

Pivoting about on her foot Chun caught sight of the machines by the shop's door. Brightly colored gum drops lay nestled in a red machine with a goldfish bowl on the top of it allowing passer by a peek at the candy in the hopes of enticing them to drop a quarter into the slot. Chun fished about her pockets bringing up only a handful of fen and some yuan. Typically Interpol used bank cards to allow their agents to pull money from wherever in the world they are invalidating the need for petty cash. Annoyed at how close she was to freshening her breath, Chun picked out a fen that was close enough to a quarter's size and plopped it into the machine's slot curious to see if she could trick it. Despite the fact the machine had been built in China it refused to swallow its motherland's currency, the knob refused to turn. When Chun tried applied more force to the handle the machine gave way a bit but then jammed tightly once it was turned half way.

"What are you doing?" Logan asked irritably from her side causing the agent to turn toward him. In his arms he carried a case of beer as well as a bag of chips. He had changed out of his clothes as well; the set he had been wearing had been stained with all the gore from fighting stinking to high heaven. He must have gotten his new pair from whatever was being sold in the grocery store, Chun reasoned, it must have been slim pickings too. He had discarded his shoes leaving him barefoot, no surprise considering that shoes were not a commodity offered with the small pile clothing a grocery store offers. At least what he wore matched somewhat, black athletic shorts lacking a brand mark along with an "I love NY" tee=shirt that was at least four sizes too small for him. Gifting him with an unwanted mid rift it gave Chun a unobstructed view of most of the man's gut. He was built like a body builder, powerful rippling abs with tree trunk arms. Probably unintentional on his part, but his shorts were slung low enough that Chun could tell he wasn't wearing underwear either, perhaps because there was none being sold at the grocery store's clothing section or perhaps out of habit, which she didn't know what to think of. She felt a bit sheepish at the fact she had suddenly taken an interest in what Logan chose to gird his loins with, if he even girded them at all

"What are you lookin at?" he snapped at her getting a shrug out of her. "Nothing" she said, nonchalantly and turning away, annoyed at the mysterious buzzing that was emanating from her core. "It was the only thing I could find, alright?" he barked at her clearly pissed off by her perceived amusement before putting the beer case down. With a snkit he sliced open the gum machine, the glass plicing into five rings before falling off the top shattering on the floor below. "You're welcome" he groused, re-shouldering his beer and stomping back to the fire. Chun opened her mouth to protest his vandalism but shut it before uttering so much as a breath; she knew Logan didn't give a shit especially since the store was already in shambles. What was the harm in some free gum? Picking out several drops she pocketed the handful of rainbow balls before returning to the fire as well. Logan had already fished the cans out of the fire and summoning his claws again he opened their tops revealing their steaming contents.

Grabbing a disposable spoon Chun dug into a can of canned ravioli; they were cooked perfectly and savored the first hot meal she had eaten since three hours boarding the plane from Beijing. She then chose a can of green beans to give the meal a pale shade of healthy eating then ditched all pretense of trying to eat a balanced meal by cutting herself a generous slice of chocolate cake. Beside her Logan wolfed down very thing else they had gathered from cans to cake to the bag of chips he brought back while swigging down beers. He ate with all the politeness of a starving animal smacking his lips with relish proclaiming his satisfaction on occasion with a belch. 'Behold the pinnacle of American manhood.' Chun thought wryly. Yet despite her logic and the Stone Age manners being displayed in front of her it did nothing to abate the strange buzzing in her veins. Excusing herself from the fire Chun wandered into the bathroom and took off her boots. They were caked with gore as well but unlike Logan's clothes they had been cobbled with Chun's particular needs in mind. Running the cold water in the sink she scrubbed them with a fervor watching as the stains struggled to hold before failing thanks to the brilliance of textile engineering.

Once they were clean and she relieved herself in one of the stalls Chun returned to find Logan laying by the fire having finished his meal. He was already out and snoring up a storm. Picking her way over to the other side of the fire Chun took off her denim jacket balling it up into a make shift pillow. She hoped to get at least a decent night's sleep even with Logan sawing away nearby. Luckily she was able to nod off quickly into a dreamless stupor like the one she had gotten the night before. Morning came and went before either of them managed to wake up. By the time noon waxed into early afternoon Chun woke up stiff as a board thanks to the hard linoleum flooring, forcing her to stretch for quite a bit to re-spark any feeling in her limbs.

Logan was still out no longer snoring, from his breathing pattern Chun was fairly sure he was still asleep, perhaps it was an REM cycle or something? Going through her morning ablutions she substituted brushing her teeth for the gum Logan had acquired for her grimacing as the syrupy sweet taste settled uncomfortably with the age of the gum. As she gnashed hard in order to turn the stale piece of candy into paste she wondered irritably why no one ever restocked the machine every now and then. With the taste of pure Americana staining her teeth she wandered back to the burnt out fire where Logan continues to sleep uninterrupted his shirt and pants askew at such an revealing level Chun's buzzing hit a crescendo forcing her to stop an reflect on what it was. Clearly it was happening around Logan and the most likely reason was because she was still wary about him. It frustrated her that even though she was a very tolerant person she still couldn't adapt to working with someone on her mission, albeit someone who had lost it when he was in battle.

Vowing to put her own feelings aside in order to work better with Logan she retreated to the back of the store. Finding a large enough space she began her morning tae kwon do routine in order to relax her mind while shaking the stiffness out of her limbs. With practiced tranquility Chun went through the motions, her mind using the peaceful state to try and reconcile Logan and herself. In true compromising fashion she played with the idea of talking about her concerns with Logan. But while she subscribed to the non-violent approach with her entire being she also understood there were limitations on talk, she wasn't _that_ idealistic. Even though she had known him for about twenty four hours or so Chun was sure Logan would simply rebuff her attempt to dialog with him. Another element of that vaunted American machismo she wasn't crazy about.

That left a few others options including an acquaintance of hers named Ryu. The travelling martial artist had crossed paths with her several times often giving them a chance to spar at the height of their ability, a rarity given the skill both of them had. Currently she shared a record of ten wins to nine loses, she was leading but Chun was also getting the feeling that Ryu's potential out shone her own; she would likely lose next time. It was through sparing with him she had gotten to know his pure spirit as well as his way of negotiation. According to him the best way to talk to a person was by fighting with them, fists couldn't lie. Sadly she doubted that Ryu's methods would work on a person like Logan. The last thing she wanted was to reactivate that blood lust and it seemed like fighting was what triggered it.

She debated with herself until she finished her tae kwon do but was unable to find a way to approach him. By now the sun had risen high enough to send long golden rays through the upper slats of the door or between the slats of the barricades they had erected. Grabbing a nearby grocery bag she filled it with it with some supplies before returning to the fire pit. Logan was getting up with a grumpy huff and scratching himself lazily. "Good morning" Chun greeted politely. "Mornin" he replied sullenly as his hands plunged into the hem of his pants as he gave his balls a good scratch. Chun did her best to ignore the buzzing as she stepped around him to pull down a few of the barricades they had placed about the door.

Tentatively peeking out of the door she checked for zombies on the street. There was not a single undead menace in sight much like it was yesterday. Chun hoped that the police were making progress with this apparent drought of putrid flesh happening. Perhaps they were congregating higher north like hunted animals preparing for their last stand. She sincerely hoped so; the faster this invasion was over the better for everyone. Logan returned from the bathroom looking just as groggy and bedraggled as he had when he had gotten up. They packed up without speaking a word to each other, the small amount of conversation they had last night was not indicative that all had been forgiven. With the afternoon sun on their backs they continued their journey with all senses on high alert for zombies. They walked for about two hours before Chun called in realizing in a panic she had not phoned for twenty four hours. Haggar sounded relieved by when he picked up. "Shit Chun, I thought I had sent ya into a death trap. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night." Chun rubbed the back of her head with one hand "Sorry sir, the zombies have been giving me a hard time."

"Well as long as you ain't dead or undead I'm ecstatic with anything." He replied warmly "Are you making any progress with the source?" "I'm almost to the center of the northern sector but I haven't found anything indicative of a source. Also, there had been no progress on that second thing you've gotten me on either." She wondered if she should mention her bestial companion but decided against it. The man sighed and Chun could practically see in her mind's eye the disheveled mayor running a hand through his greasy hair "Just focus on getting out of their alive. Nothing else matters if you're dead." "Yes sir," Chun said "I'll report later." "Please do" the mayor aid before hanging up.

"Who was that" Logan asked from up ahead. Chun snapped the phone shut "The mayor" she replied nonchalantly "he contacted my agency to help with the zombie problem "And they sent you" Logan muttered but the statement wasn't patronizing, he was merely stating a fact. The conversation died once again as they trudged onward under the uncomfortably hot summer sun. Dinner came and went allowing them to feast upon the food they had brought with them. Neither of them was particularly hungry so they only ate a smidge of the food with them before continuing. Chun wished they could find another vehicle to "borrow" but the zombies had smashed up whatever was on the road leaving nothing for the pair to ride. It might have been a long third day on the job if Logan hadn't stopped. The Interpol agent watched mystified as the man froze and sniffed the air heavily like a blood hound on the scent. He even got down on all fours almost pressing his nostrils on the cement. He shot up, alert and restless "Laura" he said simply before running around the next bend heading to the right.

Chun followed at his heels, preparing herself mentally for what they might find as well as the rage it might trigger in Logan. Weaving around buildings for about half a mile the man finally came to a stop in front of a some kind of community hall his nose sniffing the air heavily. "Shit" he growled before turning to Chun "stay out of this. I'm goin in alone." This was a reasonable request especially considering what had happened last time they had fought together but the Interpol agent had always kept the safety of her friends and allies close to her heart. She would look back on this later with utter contempt but Chun did hesitate, she seriously considered his offer. Taking her silence as an agreement the man charged forward claws unsheathed cutting the door its hinges.

Chun paused yet again her thoughts plaguing her; surely Logan could take care of any undead menace within that hall. A roar ripped through the air, the same kind that he had cried during their fight, then another and another. One particularly fearsome one was cut the silence reinstating itself in a heavy handed manner. Impulsively Chun dashed forward not caring if Logan was in the grips of the queen mother of all berserk fits; she had to see what was going on. She rushed inside only to be accosted by two zombies, a dog and a frog man. "Get out of the way" she shouted bringing her foot down on the dog's head killing it one blow before pivoting around to parry a punch from the frog man by diverting it with a tap from her foot.

As the frog man overextended Chun blew its head off with Kikoken running off further into the hall before the head even hit the floor. She rounded about the hallway to the left where a titanic crash could be heard a few feet away. A pair of mahogany wood double doors rose up before her blocked by about five human like zombies, she didn't even blink. With a leap she landed with one hand on the floor her legs whirling above her head in her signature attack. The Spinning Bird Kick sent the zombies sprawling about like bowling pins. She pushed open the double doors entering a large ballroom; this community was obvious filled with millionaires if they had a community center like this. The ceiling was easily twenty feet with columns surrounding the sides of the room with a beautiful hardwood floor.

But instead of snuffed up rich stiffs the room was filled floor to ceiling with zombies, in particular two giant zombies that just managed to avoid grazing the roof of the ceiling. The grand crystal chandelier which had once hung from the roof with a breathtaking glory lay smashed on the floor while several large dents had been placed in the floor. Logan was being swung around by one of the giant zombies impacting the floor several times before being thrown against the wall. Chun gasped as she watched his limp body slide down onto the floor where he was beset upon by a gaggle of zombies. "Dammit" she whispered painfully realizing how stupid she had been to let him go in alone.

She watched the zombies bunch around trying to get a bite swelling larger and larger with each passing second. She wanted to destroy them but her common sense stopped her, she couldn't afford to get emotional. Digging deep into that core of restraint she hadn't accessed since tracking down her father's killer Chun steeled her mind until her all that was left was her mind and a metallic frost in her soul that prevented her from making snap decisions. The best option was to escape in order to report this find to Haggar. As the mayor he could organize a platoon that could root out this cache with exponentially higher chances of success than if she chose to take the horde on her lonesome. Batting away some of the regulars with a half-hearted kick she turned about ready to make a hasty exit.

A muted guttural roar made Chun stop in her tracks 'Impossible' she thought surveying the throbbing zombie group with wide eyes. "Get…the …hell…offa me!" Logan yelled bursting through the swarm of bodies slashing about wildly. It was truly unbelievable and Chun had seen some very unbelievable things in her life as an agent but this took the cake. Instead of stomping out with a broken, battered body Logan surged forth looking fairly good for a guy whose bones should have been splintered into a million pieces. The only hint that he had undergone severe body trauma was one of his legs and both of his arms looked crooked. Every time he managed to clear away enough space with his wild swings he pushed his broken limbs into place with little more than a small snarl. "Girl, behind you" he shouted breaking her out of the stupor she had been in. With a blind cart wheel she dodged the knife blow of a human zombie who was leading a pack of dogs and frog men toward her.

She entered that mental mind frame again as the fray began around her. Fighting in the enclosed ballroom was much more difficult than the streets. Mobility was restricted thanks to the size of the room and its many occupants. Consciously the pair had to be sure not to get drawn into the center of the room; the zombies could use their numbers to outflank them. Thus both battlers crossed towards each other keeping close to the wall of the ballroom. As she approached Logan, Chun kept her eye on two variables that could turn the battle from manageable to deadly in a split second. The first was Logan himself, and the possibility he might regress back into that blood lusting berserker behavior. Thankfully it seemed like he was managing to keep his cool even though the stream of growls blooming from his lips with every swipe of his claws certainly made her check up on him often. The second problem was the two huge zombies skulking about in the center of the room. While they stayed rooted in their spot their thick bluish skin looked impenetrable while their crude clubs gripped in their meaty mitts could flatten them effortlessly. If either of them joined the battle it would get hairy real fast.

After kicking tons of zombie butt Chun and Logan managed to meet up for some quick conversation, regaining her consciousness Chun fought over the din of the battle to hear what Logan was saying to her. "My daughter is in that tube behind those two ugly bastards!" he yelled at her before pausing to deal with a platoon of regular zombies. Slicing them into ribbons he backtracked to his position at Chun's back "I'll deal with the giant walking pimples, get my daughter out of there." He paused uncomfortably "Please." Chun snorted "I'm on it, duck down." He hunched on all fours allowing Chun to launch a quick Spinning Bird Kick that knocked the zombies surrounding them down. Flipping off him the Interpol agent darted into the crowd using her Lightning Legs technique to blaze a path ahead entrusting her back to a rampaging Logan.

Somnolently, the giant zombies watched the pair forge towards them, seemingly nonchalant at the prospect of a potential meal rushing their way. Once Chun got about five feet away from them the haze in their eyes seemed to shift subtly, bringing forth a sudden predatory gleam. With a ragged scream the pair rose their clubs up above their heads smashing the ceiling above sending shards of concrete and wood raining down amongst the crowd. Chun paused completely caught off guard by the sudden aggression but Logan had seen this coming a mile away. Grabbing the woman by the collar he slung her between then before placing his arms up above his head. The columns smashed down breaking both his arms while sending his legs through the floor causing a crater. Grimacing, Logan pushed the clubs away, giving him a moment to reset his arms before his advanced healing factor screwed him over. His grimace turned into a smile as the initial pain wore off "This is gonna be fun."

While Logan dealt with the duo Chun made her way through the crowd using sweeping Spinning Bird Kicks to progress quickly. The tube ahead was a sickly shade of green, still translucent to see through, while also being bolted into the floor with humungous screws. It was roughly ten feet high more than enough to contain the single girl inside. Logan's daughter was curled up inside it unaware of the battle raging in front of her. Rushing up to the container Chun tapped it "Hey! Are you ok?" The girl made no effort to stand up or even look at Chun choosing to continue to huddle within the glass chamber. She banged on the glass some more before turning around to deal with a dog pack. Rushed for time Chun used the momentum of her the finishing blow she used on the last dog to try and shatter the glass tube. Her kicks could shatter stone so Chun was caught completely off guard when her foot rebounded off without so much as creating a crack.

She tried two more kicks hitting the same spot with perfect precision only to confirm that physical blows weren't going to work at all. She paused to deal with more zombies watching out of the corner of her eye as Logan was thrown about by the giant only to pick himself back up and rush right back in with a nasty little grin plastering his face. 'He's getting close to going berserk.' Chun realized her stomach knotting at the very thought of that scenario occurring 'I need to work quickly.' Running back over to the tube she shot ut a barrage of Kikoken following it up with a Kikosho for good measure. The barrier absorbed the blow effortlessly without as much as a rattle; it even failed to attract the attention of the girl inside. Growling with frustration she pivoted to see if Logan could possibly help her but with just a glance she knew that would be impossible.

Logan had just sidestepped a blow from one of them allowing him to scramble up its giant arm creating huge lacerations as he used his claws as climbing hooks. With a triumphant cry he plunged his way into the beast's chest, carving out chunks of flesh that were quickly snapped up by the zombies around the giant's feet. With a scream it shook the man off then bent down grabbing a handful of zombies with its mitt. As its twin chased off Logan with its weapon the giant downed several of it kin without even stopping to chew. Its ragged flesh stopped bleeding then a scarred epidermis snaked its way up the wound covering it like a bandage. Seeing his opponent shrug his attack so easily drove Logan into a rage returning his mind into that bestial mind set Chun was trying so hard to avoid. Soon the man wasn't even trying to gain an advantage choosing instead to continuously charge the giants not phased in the slightest if they knocked him for a loop. One good thing that did come out of the fight was the massive amount of zombies Logan was clearing out with each counter charge had thinned out the herd by a considerable margin, giving Chun plenty of space to try to find a solution. Looking about she spotted a computer in the room behind the tube, perhaps it could be used to unseal the tube.

She managed to boot it up without problem but once she got to the menu she found that the only thing on the computer was a bunch of locked files. Clicking on one brought up a prompt to input a password with each file requiring one in order to access its contents. Banging her fist down on the panel, Chun returned back to the tube. She tried a flurry of blows that did nothing save make her foot sore. Chun sighed as she scrambled her brain to trying to think of something in her repertoire that could help her out. Unbidden the face of a familiar opponent materialized in her mind, the infamous operative . Chun had chased her down to get info about S.I.N's activity, the pair had fought each other a couple of times whenever Chun had caught up with her. The woman had used a special tech suit her company had made in conjunction with her formidable fighting prowess to overcome any attempt by Chun to bring her in.

Out of unsportsmanlike spite Chun had tried to call her out on using tech to bolster her attacks rather than sticking to pure martial arts. The other woman had merely laughed at her before leaving using her thunder knuckles to bust out of the room Chun had cornered her in. She had griped about this to Ryu in their last sparring match that earned her a frown from him. _"Chun, you can't rely on such robotics if you want to bring out your full potential. A kick motivated by the right feeling can demolish any obstacle, you merely have to steel your heart" _he had said in complete earnest. While Chun liked the guy and admired his skills the fortune cookie mumbo-jumbo got on her nerves really quickly at times. Still…Chun rolled her eyes 'C'mon girl, you're not really going to buy into super cheesy eighties era knowledge dispensed by a disgustingly stereotyped old Asian man, are you?' From behind her she heard the sickening crack of Logan being slammed into the ground taking a barrage of blows from both giants keeping him stunlocked on the ground.

'No, no I'm not' she thought resolutely before returning to the computer console not really sure exactly what it was she wanted to try. Aimlessly she tried to get around the passwords trying to recall that article she had read about the most popular passwords people use. "If you keep doing that the computer will lock up" a voice suddenly commented from out of nowhere "You're not the owner of this computer are you, user?" Looking around wildly Chun didn't see anyone else in the room with her "Where are you? Who are you?" she asked ready and willing to strike. "My name is Zero, user, and I must ask why you are attempting to log on to this computer. I have been transferred here by a mysterious user with orders to protect this console from hacking attempts" The voice patiently explained to her "However it has recently come to my attention that certain elements of this situation are not what they seem and as such I wish to dialogue with you about your aims." "Um…well…I'm just trying to see if there's a way to free this girl who's stuck in some weird tube thing a few yards away from us."

"Ah, yes, I am familiar with the imprisoned user. My installer has built a release command into the script in this computer" the voice replied "I shall open it for you but I require knowledge of the situation going on outside in the organic world." After she summarized the events of the past few days for it Chun crossed her arms neutrally "Can't you find out what's going on if you're in a computer?" "Unfortunately while I am sentient data my code is that of a Maverick Hunter thus I am gifted mainly with virus elimination over information gathering and processing" the voice responded "My limited access to the Internet has provided me with a modicum of the situation which I find quite fascinating but I wished to hear it from the lips of a user directly." Pulling up one of the password encrypted files the A.I sliced through it cleanly giving it access to whatever was on the inside of it.

"Powering down the force field" it announced scrolling through mounds and mounds of script "This was surprisingly simple; the code is primitive at best. User, may I share a theory that I have been concocting over this past week?" "Um…sure but can this wait a moment? I need to go back and make sure that girl gets to safety" she replied ushering to the ballroom behind her. "Fear not, the time it will take for the force field to dispel entirely will take no more than ten minutes and thirteen seconds in which I have ample time to discuss my theory with you." Not even waiting for Chun to reply it continued on "I come from a different world, user, one that is devoid of users such as yourself. Naturally data is capable of flowing from one system to another to the point where transferring into a world still containing users is possible. However under no circumstances did I request transfer from my home world which leads me to believe some sort of virulent malware has managed to maneuver me unwillingly into crossing cyberspaces and then blocking my attempts to return home."

"I see, is there any particular reason you're telling me this" Chun asked scratching her head. "Simply that I would like to request that you please upload the most powerful antivirus code you are capable of finding" the voice instructed her "By downloading this I hope to use your Neanderthal technology to clear away the data for a mere fraction of a millisecond so I can return home. In return for your cooperation I am willing to give you anything you would like that is within my abilities to produce." "Well I guess it would be helpful to know who did this" Chun replied "Why are the zombies congregating here and why is that girl trapped inside that tube?" "Unfortunately I do not know the identity of the user who employed my services; he only contacted me once, offering to return me home if I guarded this information for him. However underneath this facility is the lab where the initial force of zombies came from, I believe you may find some answers down there." Chun bowed at the computer monitor "Thank you for the help but I'm not too sure how to upload this antivirus you're looking for. I'm not terribly competent with computers." "Not to worry user, I merely need you to access a Mr. Stark's personal computer, his security network is at a level above the rest of your kind so I cannot simply break in. Once you log on simply insert this memory stick and I will be able to access the antivirus."

The computer spat out a memory stick from a small compartment which Chun pocketed "Do you know of the man of whom I speak?" "I'm aware of Mr. Tony Stark" Chun replied "I'll try my best to honor your request." The A.I voice did not say anything else save choosing instead to slice open the rest of the protection on the computer monitor. Suddenly a script appeared running a myriad of codes in a flash which clicked in acceptance. The glass tube to her right wavered a bit like a mirage before vanishing completely letting the girl slumped inside to fall backwards into the ground.

"Hey, are you ok?" she asked shaking the girls arm hoping for some kind of response from the comatose teen. The girl staggered uneasily for a second before steadying herself, looking around quizzically. "Where the hell am I…?" she asked dumbfounded by the area she was in. A brutal roar caused both of them to jump; Logan's body was bright red from the beating he was taking without cease looking pained for the first time. "Dad" the girl shrieked wriggling out of Chun's grip racing straight for the giants. "Shit, no, don't!" Chun warned trying to catch the girl before she could attract the beasts' attention. Unfortunately for her one of the giants did take notice switching from pounding on Logan to taking a swing at the girls. Logan's daughter ignored the club about to smash her increasing her speed to just barely dodge the club. Jerking to her left Chun did a side flip to avoid becoming street pizza, sacrificing any attempt to stop the teen from drawing close to the zombie pounding on her father.

With a feral shriek the girl bounded her way onto the beast's head positioning herself near its eye. Summoning her own set of claws with a snikt she proceeded to pierce the left eyeball in a flurry of scratches accompanied by more growling. _"I guess she takes after you" "She'd claw your eyes out if she heard you say that" _Chun took a small breath of relief along with a wry grin realizing that Logan had been right, his daughter could take care of herself. Resolutely she turned her gaze towards the second giant who was advancing slowly on her; this was the far more pressing issue right now. With a snarl it tried to bat her away with a horizontal strike which she jumped over launching a kick into its face. It reeled back with a scream swatting the air with its free hand allowing Chun to circle around looking for some kind of weak spot.

The thick hide deflected her blows easily enough stopping any kind of attack short of an arsenal of missiles. Deciding to concentrate on its legs in an effort to at least cripple it Chun shot a Kikoken at its knee cap to see if it had any effect. Aside from making it wobble the blast had no real effect on the epidermis making Chun realize that there was no way for her to beat it by herself. Dodging a few of its blows she dashed underneath its legs heading for Logan who was still lying in the crater the giants had created attempting to smash the guts out of him like a bug. "Logan!" she called shaking him gently "We need your help, get up...please!" To her right the teen had managed to position herself on the beast's chest digging her claws deeply into the chest. Like her father before her she burrowed into its chest cavity like a demented mole sending meaty chunks everywhere. Even with the tough epidermis her claws worked unhindered and before the beast could react the girl was already completely submerged in chest cavity.

A moment passed before she emerged from its back, having burrowed a hole large enough that Chun could see straight through it unobstructed. The beast felt about for a zombie snack but came up wanting, the fact its eye was destroyed threw off its depth perception preventing it from grabbing any of the fallen undead scattered about it. After a second of struggling it let out a giant howl before falling to the side like a mighty oak causing everyone to jump when it impacted the floor. Logan's daughter gave a victory cry just before being batted by the surviving twin. Somehow, parental instinct perhaps, Logan snapped out of his comatose state with a yowl. Pushing past a stunned Chun he used a mighty swing of his claws to dig deeply into the knee cap causing it to fall down. From its side the hand swung out looking for food only to have its finger cut off by the teen daughter seeking revenge.

"Dad!" she cried out launching herself at her old man her claws drawn. Logan grabbed his daughter by foot and slung her up into the air till her feet slammed against the ceiling. Like a shaft of lightning the girl stabbed herself into the zombie's head cutting it in half. Falling down on the floor filthy from the rotten blood Chun still couldn't miss the crazy little grin on the teen's face, like father like daughter indeed. Walking up to his daughter, as every bit as filthy as she was, he awkwardly shuffled his feet "You ok, kid?" he asked gruffly causing her to shrug nonchalantly "Yeah, been better though." A pregnant pause enveloped the two before Logan tried to break it with a one armed hug that Laura shrugged off, "No offense dad…"she muttered stepping away from him "But you stink." Logan growled "Ain't you grateful. I've been busting my ass to find ya and this is the thanks I get." "I could have saved myself" she shot back crossing her arms.

Logan growled at his daughter who chose to ignore his hurt feelings opting instead to sulk in the corner of the room poking at one of the zombie corpses with her claws. "Uh…is everything ok?" Chun asked awkwardly "Peachy" Logan bitched at her "Let's get outta this stinkin hell hole." More than ready to return to city hall for a decent meal plus a hot shower Chun strolled out the door with the family following her. As they headed back down the street the teen sidled up to her "So who the hell are you?" 'Yep she's her father's daughter alright' Chun thought wryly but smiled politely nonetheless. "My name is Chun Li, I'm an Interpol agent." She offered her hand which the girl limply grasped "Laura Kiney-Logan" she replied dully. There was a small silence between them before Laura whispered to Chun "So, what'dt ya do ta piss him off?"

Chun's eyebrow quirked "Piss off who?" Laura rolled her eyes "Who else? My old man, you must have really hit a sore spot." Chun frowned, thinking back on their journey trying to ascertain exactly what she was talking about. Logan was a prickly individual in the first place so she might not have noticed what she did at all. She glanced back at the man but he didn't look particularly angry, he was scraping the crap off of his skin. Not really sure if she should apologize or something Chun slowed her pace down until she was next to him, ahead Laura was staring back at them. "What do you want?" he barked at her trying to scrub out a particularly stubborn stain. "Um…sorry" Chun muttered rubbing the back of her head before picking up her pace ready to give the volatile man some space. "Slow your ass down, waddya mean sorry? Why the hell are you sorry?" Chun shrugged her shoulders. "You seem on edge, I wasn't sure if it was something I did." She hadn't known Logan for long but she didn't want their brief partnership to end on an angry note.

"What the hell are you blabbing on about kid" he asked glaring at her "I ain't angry at ya." He paused for a second before muttering "I'm…sorry about attacking ya during that zombie attack." Chun was greatly surprised by his apology "It's was nothing. Sorry for kicking you around a bit." He smirked "Those love taps? You're a tough broad but ya ain't that tough." She smirked in return before stretching her arms lazily "I'm glad we found your daughter." He gave a small laugh "Me too kid, me too."


	5. Reunion

Chapter 5: Reunion

Chris was very familiar with morphine, whenever you gained consciousness every limb in your body felt like it was coated with molasses with just a hint of an unnatural buzz whispering through his veins. He wanted to open his eyes but the morphine was inhibiting even the minutest of efforts. He could hear the rustle of cloth next to him by his bedside. Someone was fumbling with the machinery next to him, a doctor or a nurse. Realizing he wasn't going anywhere any time soon he tried to recall what exactly had put him in the hospital in the first place. Because his entire body felt like rubber Chris couldn't pinpoint exactly where he had been hit but if the amount of numbness was any sort of indication it was around his right arm. Thinking hard Chris tried to eliminate exactly what it was that got him sent to the hospital.

Recently he had begun training recruits for the B.S.A.A so it could have been a training accident. Perhaps there had been another zombie outbreak of some kind? Since he wasn't undead it must have been a weapon that had got him possibly a knife or a gun? He systematically went through all the undead he had fought during his years from his days on S.T.A.R.S to his most recent assignment in Africa. Several in particular popped up including the Ganado that agent Leon had encountered on his mission in Europe. He spent an undeterminable amount of time playing with any possibility till he noticed a lightness beginning to worm its way around his body. It his stiff joints began to slowly unlock allowing him to move in brief spastic fits tempered by dull pain. Forced to be patient he waited another long period before opening his eyes ready to see who was waiting for him on the other side of his eyelids.

A typical bright, white ceiling dazzled his eyes forcing him to blink rapidly to regain his vision. "Take your time; if you rush it you'll just aggravate the wound" a female voice cautioned him. He tried to crane his neck in order to look at who was talking to him which he struggled with. His head was on a very plush pillow that practically locked his view so that all he could see was the ceiling. The voice sighed before a gloved hand was placed on his neck to stop him. "I'm not going to hurt you" she said slightly exasperated "If you keep struggling like that you'll get another injection." A face entered his vision one brimming with disproval "I have a lot I need to discuss with you." Chris fought to keep a juvenile blush from appearing on his face, the woman was extremely beautiful.

Her features were sharp, chiseled with a strict little mouth as well as piercing green eyes. Her hair was a crazy color of red, likely dye, styled into a strange hair do that would have only looked natural at the zenith of eighties culture. The crown of her head was graced with a sizeable pompadour that transitioned into a French braid that trailed down her back. Her wonderfully large boobs were shelved into her suit reminiscent of a cocktail waitress'; they dangled just above his paralyzed torso like some unreachable promised land. Finally a pair of yellow sunglasses dangled jauntily off the bridge of her nose granting her a business like demeanor. As Chris was about to find out this woman was all business all the time.

"There, is that better?" she asked wryly making sure she was in his field of vision "I really don't want to wait around for three more days while you get put under again for aggravating your wound." Snapping out of his brief reverie Chris met her gaze quizzically "Who are you?" Satisfied he wouldn't move any more the woman took her hand off his neck "My name is , CIA." His eyebrow shot up "C,Viper? Is that really your name?" His voice was extremely raspy. She gave a small smile "The full name is Crimson Viper and it might be my full name." Chris gave smirk "Sure as hell hope its not." He coughed a bit trying to clear his vocal chords. C,Viper disappeared for a second before returning with a cup of water "Use your left hand, your right shoulder is still healing up." Grateful he took the water from her shakily spilling a bit on himself but downing it all the same with a contented sigh. After a few more cups Chris managed to shake the gravel out of his voice allowing him to continue "Where am I? What happened?"

Her eyes narrowed for a brief second, not out of anger but out of reflection, how would she approach this? "You're in St. Meriata hospital in New York City." She began with the basics, no need to bring out the real reason why she was here, yet. "New York City?" he repeated dazedly "That's impossible." His face furrowed as he ruminated over this unexpected piece of info. "I was In Washington D.C in a meeting how…" The memories hit him like a sack of bricks, the bench, the park, the zombies, Wesker, the angel all came flooding into his mind causing a quick flare of pain in his head. He grunted while his heart monitor hiked a bit, on reflex was at the door ready to dash down to the nurse's station if this didn't abate quickly. Luckily the pain died leaving Chris' head buzzing with a multitude of thoughts but one stood out from the others. Wesker was alive, alive and spreading the viruses around.

"Wesker" he roared grabbing both of the handles attached to his bed trying to get out. Before he could even arch his back to sit up the CIA agent was by his side immediately launching a blow to his midsection that knocked the wind out of him. Climbing a top the bed she brought her face an inch away from Chris' "If you keep moving I will personally knock you out myself and I assure you that morphine is a much more pleasant experience than my fist." she whispered to him in a low dangerous voice as she brought her fist into his field of vision. "But…but…Wesker" he said panting hard his lungs on fire "I don't know who this Wesker person is but you're free to run after him once you're discharged." said breezily getting off of him "I have some questions need you to answer." Chris grimaced hard glaring at the agent but he decided not to push his luck "You're doing a hell of a job, you know that?" he sniped at her but she merely ignored him.

"Do you remember how you got here?" she asked "No, all I remember is waking up on a bench in the middle of a park, probably Central Park since we're in New York." sighed and shook her head "I'm not sure what you're talking about. I was asking if you remember how you got to this hospital." Chris thought back, he had gotten shot by Wesker and was about to be finished off ny the bastard when a large zombie fell from the sky followed by the angel. The pair had fought against Wesker who had managed to injure the both of them before the angel had driven him off with a wonderful blow to the chest, he'd treasure that look on Wesker's face for a long time to come. Then she had said something about coming from a different world, his eyes widened for a second causing to stir slightly in anticipation. Feeling spiteful at her sucker punching him he decided not to share this particular but of information and furrowed his brow in mock reflection once more.

He remembered feeling really light headed afterward, from blood loss obviously, blacking out right in front of her. Everything else was really hazy, Chris struggled to try to find some sort of concrete memory he could dig up. The last thing he could sort of remember was a mish mash of lights along with the rush of wind. He glanced up at C,Viper "The angel brought me here." He was half guessing but logic dictated the feathered female had probably hauled his bleeding carcass to this hospital. The agent nodded and seemed to mull over this for a bit "Do you know where she id now?" Chris shook his head "Let's just get this out of the way first; I've never seen her before in my life. She came out of nowhere, helped me beat Wesker and we talked for a second before I passed out." She gave him a pointed look "What did you talk about?" Keen to know what the angel had said to stalked back over next to him needling him with a gaze that just dared him to clam up. 'Crap' was Chris's only thought realizing he had let a vital piece of information slip.

He didn't want to share his conversation with the agent so he pretended to be struggling for an answer while he fished for an answer to cover his ass with. After a moment he turned to her putting on the best confused façade he could "I think it was a verse of Revelations, something about the sea giving up their dead and what not." She stared at him trying to see the tiniest squirm that would reveal he was lying to her but Chris had stared down scary things in his life. Unable to break stone like countenance backed up "I see, do you know where she might be?" This time his oblivion was genuine "I don't have a clue where she is. Like I said, I never saw her until last night." The woman said nothing for a spell before heading to the door "I'll be back in a bit. Are you hungry?" Chris shook his head "Naw, the little bit of morphine left is making me queasy." nodded before heading out into the hall leaving Chris by himself. He counted out a minute in his head then sat up wincing at the pain that assaulted his bones.

While Chris attempted to escape was only a few feet down the hall chatting away on her cell phone. "He's awake" she said reporting to her handler "I talked to him for bit but I haven't got anything we don't already have yet." "Press him a bit Agent Viper, we're scrambling to contain this one. Our sources inside the mayor's office have confirmed Interpol agent Chun Li reportedly having found and shut down the source churning out the zombies. We might have a day or two before the media returns; they already have a photo ready to broadcast despite our best efforts to gag them. We have to get to the angel first and contain her." sighed pinching the bridge of her nose "Understood but don't expect me to get anything more out of the guy. By the way can you look up Revelations verses for me, according to the witness the angel spouted off some crap about the sea giving forth its dead or something?"

"Sounds apocalyptic" her handler replied sounding slightly worried "I'll get back to you on that within the hour." "Understood, this is over and out." Clicking her cell phone shut she made tracks to the cafeteria. Grabbing a few pieces of fruit as well as well as a small bowl of green jello returned to the witnesses room balancing most of it in her arms save for an apple she had placed in her mouth. She opened the door to find her witness gone leaving a small trail of IV fluid from the side of the bed to the door. Spitting the apple out of her mouth she tossed the other fruit on the bed before racing back out onto the hallway. 'Men' she seethed spinning nimbly about the corridors 'can't live with them, can't live without them.' A nearby orderly nearly pissed herself when C,Viper grabbed her demanding to know if she saw a large man walking about. The poor middle aged woman merely shook her head weakly

Setting the orderly down reversed direction heading back the way she came wondering where she had missed him. A few corridors away Chris pushed his way out of a nearby room. Luckily both occupants were asleep so they didn't raise a fuss when he had ducked in their to avoid C,Viper as she returned from the cafeteria. Shuffling down the hallway as fast as he could with half limp, half on fire legs Chris kept his ears open for the sound of her boots clacking down the hallway. He was inone of those silly paper gowns they put patients in whether they were dying from some tropical disease or merely getting check up. With his bare naked ass hanging out for the entire world to see Chris was exceedingly glad the night shift here was sparse. Spying a nearby stairwell he ducked into it flabbergasted to see that he was on the tenth floor of the building. The stairs loomed before him like a monster triggering a tweak in his back as if his entire body was warning him that this was a really bad idea.

From behind the door he heard someone zip past him, was hot on his trail. Deciding that the agent was far worse than any kind of fall down the stairs Chris gritted his teeth grabbing the railing with both knuckles. Each step was painful and that pain accumulated exponentially with each step he took yet he never buckled. His thoughts lay with Wesker who was no doubt sitting somewhere plotting global saturation with that smug little grin on his face. As long as the Tricell agent was still alive and Chris better than anyone knew you couldn't write off the bastard as deceased until you saw the body. Sadly all the grit in the world couldn't help him endure two floors of stairs. He stumbled over the last three before the eighth floor landing face planting onto the concrete. Groaning he rested for a brief moment before trying to get up his hand touching something wet, warm and sticky. His shoulder wound had reopened leaking a slow steady stream of the stuff down his arm onto the floor.

While the pair played cat and mouse in the hospital a mere six blocks away Malice began to stir properly for the first time in days. Feeling significantly better than she last time Malice slowly pushed herself up from her face down position on the couch. Looking around critically she managed to survey the room she was in, it was fairly small with all the lighting coming from candles scattered about the floor. Ignoring bric-a-brac scattered around her feet Malice sat up till she was sitting on the couch giving her wings plenty of space to stretch. She allowed herself a brief unladylike yawn before focusing on the task at hand, where in Asgard was she? She remembered the small Sprite child opening the floor allowing her to enter the hall but after that it was all oblivion. Possibly the Sprites had decided to tend to her while she was unconscious, such good cattle. Amused by the stuff the Sprites had placed about her she examined them intrigued by what their significance was. A number of statuettes lay about her feet, most averaging about two feet or so, all of the same woman. 'Never seen this goddess before' Malice thought 'she's really overdressed too, usually the gods are in the skimpiest of outfits.' Regardless of whether it was angels or Sprites, Asgard or the city of Tethys mortals wanted to portray their gods as exhibitionists for some reason that would remain shrouded in mystery and perversity.

Along the walls were a cluster of a particular symbol, it looked like a letter of Sacred Tongue but Malice couldn't be sure thanks dimness of the room. Unable to understand their reasons for placing odd décor in her room Malice carefully slid the goddess statues to one side. Skadi wasn't in the room, a fact that made her feel vulnerable, especially if she had misread the Sprites as benevolent. Guessing her diviner was still on top of the roof Malice made her way out the door into the hallway, her wings fluttered slightly as she exited extinguishing the candles in the room. Quietly creeping along the hall she failed to notice the door open behind her until the person gasped at her presence "You're awake!" Malice whipped about her fists balled, even without her axe she was going to be a force to be reckoned with at least, tensed for battle until she spotted the little Sprite, the same one who had seen her on the landing, was the one behind her. Sighing in relief Malice turned around to continue her journey back to the roof but the girl called out to her again "Are you going back to heaven?"

Not wanting to wake the entire community of Sprites housed within this building Malice drew upon the dregs of kindness that lay withered somewhere in her heart. Turning about she gave a serene smile, one befitting of a messenger of the gods who were giving good news, and bent down to face the child eye to eye. "Why is a good little girl like you wandering around so late at night?" she asked as gently as possible trying her best not to barf from the sugary sweet syrup coating her voice. The child ducked its head cutely "I was going to your room to pray. Mommy told me that because you here the monster in the mirror won't get me cause you're angel." It took all of Malice's strength not to laugh in the child face, demons appearing from mirrors, is that what Sprites used to get their children to eat their helikraut? Keeping the smile plastered on her face Malice reluctantly patted the child on the head.

"Worry not, for heaven is on your side" Malice said drawing it from a passage from the Valdes Scriptures "Why don't you return to your room?" However the girl's eyes were brimming with questions rooting her to the spot "Mr. Montgomery said you were an evil angel cause your wings are black. Why are your wings black?" Apparently along with scaring their children the Sprites were also neglecting teaching their kids basic catechism, such sacrilege. "My wings are black because I am a Grim Angel" Malice answered feeling a bit robotic "Those who were born before the Ragnarok have white wings." The girl looked confused "I don't remember that in Sunday school. What's Ragnarok?" Even if Malice was not super religious herself Ragnarok was basic knowledge that even the most brain dead of demons understood. It just cemented what Master Hector had told her, Sprites were just animals to be harvested for the glory of Asgard.

Tired of this charade Malice stood up with as much heavenly grace as possible "I must go, heaven awaits." Before she could take so much as a half step back the little girl lunged forward grabbing Malice's hem. "Please Miss Angel, could you give me a blessing pretty please!" Swearing to return to this god forsaken building once she found Skadi and contacted Master Hector in order to harvest these pitiful souls Malice mustered one last weak shade of kindness. Stiffly palming the child's head Malice gave a watery thin smile "May the gods smile down on you throughout the rest of your long life." The girl smiled happily before returning to her room not seeing the look of absolute loathing that had manifested on Malice's face. With all due haste malice found the stairwell door leaving the floor before anymore Sprites accosted her with ridiculous requests. The air was cool as it tousled Malice's hair, a storm was coming. Her weapon lit itself up once it sensed her arrival; it lay unmolested on the roof not that Malice was expecting it to get stolen or anything. Quite the opposite really, diviners reacted violently toward anyone who wielded one without their owner's consent. Had a Sprite stumble upon it by accident then decided to touch it they would have lost their hand to frost bite.

Gripping the weapon with both hands Malice nuzzled it against her cheek happy to know that the thing she had sacrificed so much for was once again in her grasp. She unfurled her wings to the height of their wing span stretching out the army of kinks they had accumulated. While the first few drops of rain splashed against the concrete the Grim Angel lifted herself into the air in a hurry to find a shelter away from this accursed building before the lightning started. As she maneuvered through the air a thought crossed her mind, the Sprite she had brought to the hospital. Surely by now the doctors should have treated his wounds; no doubt he was sleeping soundly nearby. While she wasn't thrilled by the prospect of having to interact with more Sprites by any means that man potentially held info pertaining to why she was in this bizarre world. The quicker she could figure out who or what did this to her and how to reverse the process the better she would be.

had circled the entire tenth floor but her witness had vanished without a trace meaning he was most likely kidnapped. That left only one option for them to leave by, the first floor doorway. A quick calculation in her head assured her that the stairs would be quicker than the elevator by roughly 43.56 seconds give or take certain variables. Wheeling about the hall she made it to the stairwell door and began to descend it like a flash fully intending to head off the kidnappers. Her entire theory fell apart when she came close to stumbling over her witness' body when she turned on the seventh floor stair landing. He was lying their pained on the landing in a pool of his own blood flashing an annoyed look at her. "You're lucky I'd hate myself in the morning for beating on an injured man." She informed him lifting him back onto his feet as he grunted in pain.

With a bit of shuffling around the agent opened the door dragging him into the hallway. Spying a nearby orderly she beckoned the guy over "Go get me a gurney, this man is too injured to return to his room. Bring back some bandages as well, the stitches got messed up." The man opened his mouth to question her but she shot him a look that could freeze hell that sent him skittering for a gurney. Sitting the witnesses bare ass down in a nearby chair she rounded him in a cold fury "I hope you realize you just made this whole ordeal a hell of a lot harder on you." Her voice was flat which just made her threat scarier, Chris had to swallow hard before he shot his own angry glare at her "Back the hell off, I told you everything I know." "I don't believe you" she shot back pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose till the gleam of the lights obscured her eyes completely. "If you're an American patriot you'll tell me everything you know about that angel." He groaned and rolled his head petulantly like a child "I love the red, white, and blue as much as the next guy but I've got more pressing priorities here. Wesker's out there and he is going to start global saturation again."

All managed to do was throw up her hands before the window in front of them shattered into a million pieces. She covered her head to block any of the shards while a whoosh of air shot directly above her head. When she looked back up her witness was gone, a faint cry from the window clued her in that someone had yanked him out the window. Rushing over she saw the faint white flutter of his paper robe as her witness was being flown up into the sky, Couldn't see what had grabbed him. Cursing vividly she raced back into the stairway her feet pounding as she made her way up to the rooftop.

Outside the sky had finally let loosed the flood gates, fat raindrops assaulted Malice as she headed toward the hospital. Blowing a wet strand of blond hair out of her eyes the angel began to sweep the buildings trying to remember which one was the hospital. A brief flash of lightning sped her up; the last thing she wanted was for a stray lightning bolt to strike her especially after being comatose for the last few days. As she rounded the bend the thunder broke over her still weak due to the storm's recent appearance, if not for that she wouldn't have heard a panicked cry to her near left. The lights from the streets illumined a man being dragged into the air by a red winged demon. Malice did a double take, once for the demon that had appeared in this world. If it really was from Utgard that meant this world was connected to the realm she was from. The other thing that she noticed was the victim the demon had in its claws; it was the Sprite that she had saved. Groaning in frustration she built some altitude before sliding into a shallow curve that sent her speeding toward the pair.

Chris was fighting for his life as he the monster pulled him higher and higher into the air. His body was on fire but his mind didn't register it at all since it was overwhelmed with the primal fear of prey being lifted into the air. He thrashed weakly trying to shake the monster's grip on his right arm which accomplished little else than causing the demon to give a keening sound that was probably laughter. Dimly he realized that they were currently hovering over the top of the hospital, the street was below them visible only by a blurry band of light. Fluttering over the edge of the roof the demon lifted Chris up by his arm till their gazes met. The yellow pupil looked over Chris lazily before a cruel smile etched itself onto the demon's face. It loosed its grip slightly clueing Chris in that the thing was about to drop him to his doom. Unconsciously he began to pray, to what he wasn't sure but it was one last desperate plea to get a last chance to bring Wesker to justice. Chris wasn't very religious to begin with so he was surprised when his prayers were answered.

The demon shrieked suddenly bucking forth and losing his grip on Chris' arm. For a brief terrifying second he hung in the air in that transition state between potential and kinetic energy before an arm was slung around his middle saving him from the harsh mistress that was gravity. He felt his savior move back a few feet before he was deposited on the edge. His legs gave up on him sending him ass down into a shallow pool of rain water. The demon was a few feet away from him jerkin about in the air trying to sooth the pain coming from a nasty gash that had split him right down the middle between the wings. A flap of feathery wings made him look up at his savior; it was the angel he had seen a few days ago.

They stared at each other for a moment, his two brown ones meeting the one which wasn't covered by her swooping bangs. "Are you my guardian angel or something?" he asked stupidly in a drenched paper gown that was beginning to disintegrate while his blood mixed with the rainwater. She gave him a look that mixed wry amusement with extreme haughtiness "If you ever ask me that again I'll cut you in half." He laughed, it was so surreal he wasn't sure why he was chuckling but he was, here in this world where nothing made sense. While Chris fought through his Alice in Wonderland moment the angel had decided to ignore him for now hoping that the Sprite wasn't completely insane, she had questions she needed him to answer. Instead she turned to the demon who was regaining his equilibrium as the initial blow from Skadi began to cool. Turning around it shrieked at her recognizing a heavenly being, its arch nemesis, and the two began to size the other up.

"It's been a while since I've battled a demon" Malice taunted brandishing her axe with a flourish "I hope that ugly mug on your face isn't the only thing that's scary about you." Before either of them could move someone kicked the door to the stairwell open with a fiery blast. A woman ran out onto the roof looking slightly panicked before spotting the man sitting there on the roof. She let loose a small sigh of relief before looking at the demon and the angel. In particular the Sprite woman seemed to be sizing up Malice which caused the angel to glare at her just daring her to make a move. Coolly the sprite strolled up the winged pair "I need to talk to you." Malice's mouth quirked up into a condescending little grin "Too bad, I have nothing to talk about. If you run away now I might not kill you." The sprite woman shot her own little grin at the angel but before either of them could move the demon got tired off all the conversation and attacked its mortal nemesis.

Effortlessly Malice parried the blow from its foot talons with Skadi sending it back a few inches allowing her retaliate with the blunt of her ax. The demon brushed back with a flap of his leathery wings then launched a fire ball at Malice. The Grim Angel screamed as the flames assaulted her catching her clothes on fire sending the sprite woman into action. With an amazing jump she brought her fist onto the cackling demon's face sending it down onto the ground. She followed it up with a sweep of her foot sending the demon up into the air where she met it in mid fall with a flurry of blows that sent it back down onto the ground. When she went to continue her barrage the demon swiped its claws at her forcing her onto the back foot. While they scuffled Malice fell onto the ground trying to beat the flames off of her robes. The rain helped immensely in keeping her from staying on fire so that the total damage was only some singe on her clothing.

Growling at the impetuous little demon that had the gall to harm her Malice swirled the head of her weapon around summoning the ice and frost from the driving rain. Once it was condensed enough she advanced her ax glittering ominously ready to carve some demon flesh. Sweeping forward she slashed her ax with surgical precision using a technique she called Guilty Edge. The sprite woman managed to barely flip herself over the initial sweep which sent her out of the strike zone as the Grim Angel brought her full wrath to bear on the hapless demon. The swipes left deep grooves in the monsters carapace that soon frosted over increasing the size of each cut. The final blow smacked on the wing slashing the leather webbing ragged rendering the poor soul flightless. Screeching in rage the monster battled back with its claws engaging the pair into a scuffle. Skadi's range was both a blessing and a curse depending on the range as the demon charged in while Malice forced it back out.

After a particularly nasty clash leaving the demon with a frost bitten scar running down its chest while Malice had to contend with a cut on her forehead which was beginning to obscure her vision plus a puncture wound that had gotten her in the left leg. As the pair fought to stop their backwards inertia in order to ready another charge the Sprite woman came down from sky landing her foot on the monsters face. Activating some power from her feet she placed one foot back to act as a motor while the other stayed planted firmly on the monster's neck. Flames burst forth from both feet frying the demon's face while propelling both battlers forward on the ground allowing the woman to surf on its back. Seeing her chance Malice wiped the blood from her face giving her a quick glimpse of the battlers but only one peek was all she needed. Raising Skadi into the air Malice floated commandingly as a stray bolt of lightning hit her ax with a buzzing crackle. Instead of getting fried the bolt seemed to be drawn into the diviner making it shine like the light of judgment which made the air sparkle like diamonds.

The power of the heavens manifested within its enforcer and with a cry Malice brought the ax down along with the temperature. A massive front of frigid air moved forward at an amazing pace causing spikes of ice to jut up defiantly into the air. The front over came both the demon and the Sprite, they screamed with pain as the frost coated their bodies cutting deep into their flesh. Both reacted hastily, the demon tried to fight the blizzard with the fire in its maw swinging in wild rotating strikes to melt the freeze. The woman decided it was far more pertinent to run than fight activating those flame jets to melt the frost gluing her legs to the ground. With another giant leap she vaulted out of the blizzard zone behind Malice dropping on her knees from shivering so hard.

The Sprite had made the proper choice to escape the blizzard, even with its impressive fire power the demon couldn't even make a dent into the blizzard. Within moments it was frozen solid into a popsicle its final pose one of rage with its maw opened in a rage against the heavens. With a nasty smile Malice slashed horizontally cutting the demon in half "It's our fate to pass judgment on demons" she said haughtily watching the torso fall to the ground with a clink. Brushing back her swoop bangs only to have them return stubbornly over her eye she turned to the male Sprite who was still sitting dazed in a puddle of rain water. The shower was growing fierce drenching everyone present to the bone. Since her wings were not waterproof Malice grounded herself on the roof top before strolling over to the man. "I have a lot of questions to ask you." She told him icily but then noticed the stream of blood undulating down his arm. "I see your Sprite doctors were far more inferior than I gave them credit for." She groused standing above him; she tore yet another strip of cloth from her robe using it to stem the blood.

He didn't reply choosing instead to face plant onto her shoulder completely unconscious. Not wanting to wait around for however many days for him to regain consciousness Malice embraced him awkwardly making sure her wings surrounded shielding him from the rain. She then activated Angel Awakening filling the both of them with light which both stopped the blood loss along with instilling the both of them with a healing factor. After about twenty minutes Malice pulled away feeling fatigued but in much better shape than she had when she had fought that blond demon. She hadn't required as much healing now plus she didn't have to aggravate the healing wounds with more movement. Meanwhile Sprite's shoulder wound had healed up quite a bit. It was no longer bleeding thanks to the new epidermis that now encased the wound still pink from its thinness. Recovering the ribbon of cloth she had used as a bandage she pocketed it then stood up planning to carry the man a short distance back into the door to the stairwell.

Sadly while she had preoccupied with healing the male sprite she had completely forgotten about the female one who had revered from the chilling effects of Malice's Blue Sophia attack. In slightly better shape than the angel she brought her hand onto the angel's neck rendering her unconscious with a quick poke to her pressure point. The winged woman tipped forward nearly toppling onto the witness being caught just in time by . Exhausted she bought both of them out of the storm into the stairwell for a brief rest before hauling the man downstairs onto the first floor she could get to. After a bit of searching she found an orderly, flashed her badge, and managed to procure a room for the witness. Next she ordered the orderly off the floor along with anyone else who was not confined to a hospital bed before bringing the angel down as well. Using some strips of linen she bound the woman's hands, legs, and wings as best she could. even tried to confiscate the weapon the angel had wielded which was lying on the roof but if it weren't for her quick reflexes when she went to grab it she would've lost a finger at least to frostbite.

Checking the clock she saw that it was nearly morning, she felt exhausted but she still had work to do. Pulling out her cell phone she called her handler. "Angel apprehended." She reported "Requesting back up as well as transport." The guy on the other line was quiet for a second "Are you for real Agent ?" Clicking the cell phone off she took a picture of her captive sending to her handler, she only had to wait a second before he called her back. "Holy Shit Agent " he exclaimed his usually calm demeanor shattered by her actions "I'll get headquarters to haul ass to your location as soon as possible. That'll take about an hour or so, keep her under wraps till back up arrives." "Understood" she replied coolly "C,Viper, over and out." Idly she rummages around the drawers in the room till she withdrew some bandages as well as some painkillers. Dry swallowing four she wrapped her cuts wincing slightly from the pain. She considered paying the angel back for the pain but that annoying little moral about beating up on people who couldn't fight back reared its head so all she did was give a grumpy glare at her captive before settling in a nearby chair to catch a quick cat nap before back up arrived.

From a pocket dimension in the shape of a plain white room two players sat over their board game watching the pieces maneuver themselves around the battlefield. This pair was responsible for summoning those displaced souls to this place; they were the pawns in celestial game the mysterious forces were playing. Under critical scrutiny the pawns moved themselves across the board as any direct control was considered cheating which would result in an immediate loss. One of the pawns blinked a transparent blue, signaling that a mission had been a success, before returning to the far south of the board which was the domain of Player One. His pawn's gamble to obtain a critical piece of technology for mid game had paid off leaving the opposing forces utterly clueless over who had attacked them.

Actually Player Two's forces were in fairly dire straits even without Player One's nip and tuck tactics. They were missing their champion, their leader, the person who was supposed to receive instruction from Player Two in order to win the game. A brilliant move from Player One at the beginning of the opening turns had captured his opponent's champion and locked him away in a small pocket dimension. Hovering over the edge of the rightmost side of the board game was a small golden sphere signaling the containment of Dr. Strange, his opponent's champion, which would hopefully remain in isolation for the rest of this short, decisive game. When Player Two had demanded they play this Player One had nearly burst out laughing, his opponent had never played this before and their inexperience was making this all too easy. Even now as he watched Player Two's forces he could see them moving about aimlessly unaware of the stakes they were playing for.

His own forces lead by Dr. Doom was a text book example of how to play this cosmic game, consolidate your forces quickly, protect your champion at all cost, whittle away at your opponent before lowering the boom at end game. Admittedly he was a bit rusty himself, he hadn't played this particular game for quite a bit of time but he was plenty skilled enough to crush naïve Player Two. Speaking of his enemy, Player Two's face was set in an unhappy frown as he watched his pieces muck about trying to form some sort of coherent theory over who had attacked them. Bereft of his champion it was all he could do to watch them maneuver about independently without any sort of direction. "Want to throw in the towel" Player One asked lightly slipping his drink "This is beginning to become a bit of a waste of time; I'll begin to wrap this up in the next ten turns or so." His barb proved to be ineffective as Player Two merely gave him an agitated look "You have all the time in the world" he replied gruffly before grabbing the dice in the center of board, his turn to roll.

It was nice to see that Player Two was beginning to panic, their constantly serene state was an affront to Player One who like to see despair grip his opponents before he extinguished their last rays of hope. The reply his opponent gave him was no surprise really, Player Two had a lot at stake here and a loss would be catastrophic for them. Relieving some tension by rolling the dice about their palms for a minute or so Player Two sighed and sent them rollicking about the center of the board careful not to hit any of the pawns. "Nine" he breathed glancing at the pads of paper they had in their lap in order to find out what exactly they could do with those points. Player One rolled his eyes, his opponent had all of the noob luck in the world. First they consistently got high point totals from the dice while his highest total hadn't exceeded five since they had begun to play. If his opponent wasn't incapable of cheating he would have inspected them himself to ensure they weren't using loaded dice or anything. Then there was the recent event he had tripped courtesy of his pawn Wesker, the zombie invasion event which had flooded the board with low power pawns. Despite lasting for several turns the zombie flood had been beaten back by Player Two's forces without a single one of them being converted to his side via being bitten by a zombie. It had been a bit maddening to say the least but Player One kept his cool, after all he was winning decisively at this point plus the zombie invasion could be triggered again by Wesker or even M.O.D.O.K now that the two were partnering up together

"Ok, let's see" they mumbled flipping through the game manual trying to find some sort of tactic that would work for them. "I sacrifice two points to summon two more pawns" they declared reaching a hand inside the cosmic portal they had constructed and drawing forth two plastic looking pieces. As per the rules Player One wouldn't be able to attack these newly summoned pawns directly until the end of Player Two's next turn. They were interesting pawns to say the least; in fact Player One was quite sure the pair was worthless in this particular game. Still that just meant quicker victory for him so he graciously didn't point out how stupid that move had been. Setting them down within his territory, Player Two returned to flipping through the game manual making Player One mock yawn. His opponent gave him another agitated look before giving the manual one last desperate glance hoping that the pages would give them the remedy they needed before closing it and holding up their right hand. "I end my turn" they replied wearily before spinning a large vertical wheel which would not have looked out of place on another board game like Life or Sorry. The wheel clacked loudly thanks to the plastic stub slowing down it momentum before it landed on an empty white space, no special event would befall upon her forces this turn.

Picking up the dice he rolled them about in his hands for a bit "I'm surprised with you, I didn't think you had the guts to summon the Phoenix Force." His opponent rolled their eyes "Does my choice in pawns make you nervous?" Player One chuckled "Hardly, you don't realize what a destructive force that entity is do you, and may I remind you that if this game board breaks you lose automatically?" Player Two sniffed "I'm aware of my actions. I advise you to pay more attention to your own force than mine." Player One tossed his dice. "Four" he muttered a bit miffed at yet another low number. On the left most side of the board was a crimson colored portal that Player One had summoned early on, the reason he was so starved for points currently. Unlike the cosmic portal that reached into the multiverse this one was a small portal to hell which allowed him to extract low powered pawns for a mere fraction of the cost he would have paid to use the cosmic portal.

His fingers withdrew from the brimstone depths carrying a familiar pawn, yet another Firebrand to replace the one he had lost. That had been a calculated risk for him, the angel was a potential spanner in the works for both of them and it had been imperative to find out more about her as soon as possible. Sadly because a Firebrand was such a low power pawn they hadn't been able to glean much from the battle thanks to how one sided it had been. What really infuriated him though was the fact Player Two had gone to some length to interfere by engaging her own pawns in battle, one of them had ended it very quickly by knocking out the angel. To really rub it in his face Player Two had retreated with the angel in tow back behind her front line preventing him from seeing exactly what it was Player Two's pawns were doing to it. Unlike his white pawns or Player Two's black pawns the angel was represented by a blue pawn which told them there was a hidden third member of their game who had snuck in at the very start of it.

This worried both of them for one really big reason; there was very powerful player out there who would love to crash their game. This guy was always on the lookout for new dimensions to conquer, this particular dimension acting as their game board would be a lovely addition to the scads he had under his control. Not only could neither player rebuff him directly from playing he was also very skilled at this particular type of game, even more so than Player One. They had done their utmost to keep this top secret, to hide it from him, but even with all their preventive measures this player had a way of finding out where games were being held. Still if this guy was messing with their heads he was doing so in an awfully roundabout way. The fact that if he was playing he chose to play anonymously, hiding out in a nearby dimension choosing not to reveal his presence, seemed very out of character for someone like him. Mysteriously the anonymous player had let their pawn move about on her own accord much like Player Two's but with the added disadvantage of not being able to roll for points or summon anymore pawns to the game. Hell, the player hadn't even declared his or her single blue pawn a champion meaning they couldn't converse with it to give it guidance.

Praying that whoever was working behind the scenes of their game was not that pain in the ass guy Player One stocked his points and spun the wheel idly still wondering exactly who it was controlling the blue pawn. The wheel gave a celebratory ring as it landed on an event space "A Mysterious Warrior approaches!" a disembodied voice sang out happily "His might can shake the earth and he seeks the most powerful of opponents!" A single yellow pawn, dictating that it was an independent piece, appeared on the middle of the board. Casually Player One swiped the air in front of him bringing up the mysterious warriors stats. "My, my, what a nasty little obstacle" he remarked before dismissing the page with a second wave "Too bad we can't recruit him to our cause, he might have helped you turn this around." "I have all the pieces I need for now" his opponent shot back "Focus on your own pawns." "Touchy, touchy" he chided placing the dice back in the center of the board "I end my turn."

Morning broke over the city of New York brining an antidote to the terror the inhabitants had been feeling for days. The few zombies roaming about were becoming scarcer and scarcer by the hour thanks to quick decisive work from the NYPD. By seven in the morning the news' gag order to be revoked by order of the mayor's office allowing reporter's to wander the streets hunting down the harvest of juicy stories hiding around every corner. People began to move about openly on the streets cautious at first but by noon the typical New York cockiness had returned fully. The after affects were very similar to 9/11, a sort of dazed awakening shown in the civilians eyes like one from awakening from a deep sleep. It seemed unbelievable to them that a zombie attack had happened in the greatest city in America.

It was three in the afternoon when Chris woke up, the familiar sight of a hospital ceiling looming above him. He slowly checked his limbs from feet to finger tips then checking the bullet hole on his shoulder, there was nothing there. Shucking the sheets off of him Chris got up happily noting the soreness in his muscles had faded away as well and headed down to the nurses' station. The one behind the counter must have just come in for she was bristling with cheerfulness. "How can I help you?" she asked giving him a great big grin "Uh…I'm the patient in room 2051, I was wondering if I could leave. I feel much better." The nurse typed on the computer for a second "Ummm…you're the John Doe the Feds brought in right?" "Yes" Chris keeping on the lookout about for . "You've been cleared for discharged by the doctor. We'll return your clothes and any articles you had on your person save for those weapons you had, they were confiscated by the NYPD." She looked at him pointedly "You got lucky, the Feds paid for your medical expenses as well as scrubbing the fact you had concealed weapons on your person. A big felony here in New York but I guess when you know people in the White House…"

"Where are the Feds?" he asked looking around surprised hadn't sidled up to him from behind ordering him back to his room so they could chat. "From what I heard from the morning shift they left this morning." This shocked Chris, was gone? Suddenly he remembered that the angel had been there as well, had the CIA agent somehow over powered her? "Did they take anything with them?" he asked interested if they had been public with the capture of an angel. The nurse bent towards Chris "You didn't hear this from me but Juvelon on the night staff; he said the Feds brought a huge truck and forced everyone off the twentieth floor. Apparently he heard from Joachim who heard it from Gordon who heard it from Amareus who saw them taking a huge black tube out to the truck they brought with them. The she saw them bring down what looked like the Ark of the Covenant from those archeologist movies. The guys handling it looked spooked and when they turned the corridor the ark dipped a bit and Amareus said she saw some kind of shining blue stick in it."

The nurse leaned over even more "I think its aliens, the old Men in Black shtick but Juvelon thinks it was some kinda fairy or mermaid or something." "I…see" Chris said his mind buzzing with theories "I'm going to return to my room and wait for my clothes." The nurse waved him off nonchalantly daydreaming about what could have been in that tube. Once Chris got back in his room he sat down on the bed taking a few minutes to piece together what had happened. The Feds had obviously captured the angel leaving him alone, after all they what they wanted why play around with him any longer. What bothered him was what to do next; he wanted to contact the B.S.A.A as soon as possible to report that Wesker was alive but he had the sinking feeling something was off. He had seen the Tricell agent die that much he was sure of. The angel had sounded really confused about where she was asking him about things like Asgard and other such nonsense. What was going on in the world?

His thoughts were interrupted by a nurse returning with his clothes. He quickly changed into his field outfit, the same one he wore when he woke up. He looked pseudo military in it minus the weapons, his belt and holster had also been confiscated by police. After he pulled his shirt over his head he saw a sliver of blue edging out of the pocket of his vest. Pulling it out he recognized it as the same color of fabric the angel wore, it was stained heavily with blood turning most of the sash brown. 'She must have ripped this off her robe to bandage my gun wound' he thought gazing at it uncomfortably. He was at a cross roads with what he could do next as he stared at that dirty ribbon of cloth. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to hunt down Wesker and end him as soon as possible with no mercy. His heart was telling him to find the angel; he doubted the Feds had stolen her away in the wee hours of the morning to engage her in deep theological debates.

As a government agent himself he had witnessed firsthand how badly the government reacted when presented by a threat. The Raccoon City incident was testament to that fact, if they were willing to nuke a small town with survivors still screaming for help within its boundaries who knew what sort of things they do to an angel in the wake of a zombie invasion. She had saved his life twice along with bandaging his wounds, Chris owed her big time. Plus...well he'd quickly find out if there could be a very important second reason to find her. He left the hospital room heading down to the first floor where some phones were lined against the wall. Picking up the phone he dialed the number for the B.S.A.A headquarters. A robotic little tone told him the number did not exist putting real evidence into the theory forming in his head. He then called everyone he knew that was a part of his recent past from his temporary partner Sheva who had aided him in Africa to colleagues who had survived the Raccoon City ordeal like Barry. Either someone else picked up telling him he had the wrong number or the robot voice reported the number he was dialing did not exist.

He set the phone back down on the cradle a bit dazed, it was true then. Chris Redfield had stumbled into a different world, he wasn't sure how or why but the evidence was there. It was so surreal like Alice in Wonderland or something. The world looked strange for a second while a feeling of intense isolation wrapped around Chris choking him with fear. He laughed for a bit before swearing then kicking the wall which brought stares from the other hospital patients spurring him to head outside. The street smelled of hot humidity as the sun evaporated the rain that had accumulated during the night. Stumbling around pedestrians he reached a secluded alley pulling out the scrap of cloth in his pocket. The angel was in the same hell he was, Chris was as sure about that. Chasing after Wesker would do him little good in the long run aside from granting him a deep sense of peace, cathartic to be sure but it probably wouldn't bring him one step closer to getting home. With a deep breath he put his hatred aside like a person attending a fire might put a red hot coal onto the cold ground with a pair of tongs. He needed to find the angel, if not to start collecting clues to find his way home then to possibly gain a companion.

Of course if he did want to save her he would have to find where the Feds had taken her, no easy task. He doubted anyone back in the hospital would have seen where they had gone and anyone passing by would have forgotten the spectacle by now. The only thing he had left was a shred of her clothing, it might be a long shot but perhaps a dog could follow their trail. Chris couldn't help but give a nasty little mirthless chuckle at this stupid thought, where the hell would he find such a tracker? "Oy, mate have ya lost ya marbles?" a voice taunted him from somewhere in the alley. Turning about Chris tried to spot the source of the voice his hand heading down to his belt gripping empty air. "Damn" he muttered realizing that the police had taken his piece. "Never liked Earthlings, sodders the lot of them." The voice remarked as some garbage from down the alley shuffled around. "Who the hell are you" Chris asked agitatedly "Why the hell are you here?" "That's the fifty million dollar question mate, I wake up today and, cor blimey, here I am back on Earth some fifty million light years from the ship I fell asleep on." The voice griped "I try to call my colleagues to tell them to cut the grade school crap and pick me up but they've gone AWOL."

Chris' heart beat jumped up in excitement "You woke up in this world too?" There was a moment of silence "What do ya mean this world? Yer an Earthling ain't cha? This is your world, right?" Chris hesitated "This is Earth but this isn't the world I come from. I woke up here in a random bench on the park, I can't contact anyone I know, this happened to you too right?" Another silence "Ya ain't pulling my leg now are ya. Ya mean to tell old RR he fell into a different dimension again?" Chris tilted his head "RR?" "That's my name ya blighter, Rocket Racoon" the voice jumped up from his spot in the trash landing in front of Chris balancing on a trash can. Chris stared at the creature nonplussed, the owner of the voice was an anthropomorphic raccoon dressed in a blue uniform with a blaster strapped to his hip. "If you're going to be an Earth pansy and fall over from shock like the rest of them blighters I'm pissing on your face" the raccoon informed him snootily. The former S.T.A.R.S member shook his head slightly muttered a quick "Damn" then like so many other times in his life he stared down a biological impossibility and resumed business as usual.

"It's nice to meet you, my name's Chris Redfield" he said introducing himself hesitating a bit before offering his hand. The raccoon shook it before placing his hands on his hips "So, what the hell do we do now?" It was a fair question, Chris had something in mind but he wasn't sure how to accomplish it. "Well, I'm looking for another one who is in the same situation we are. She got taken somewhere by the Feds." Rocket Raccoon snorted "Well then, why the hell are we standing around here like a couple of blighters? Let's go mate, I love the ole save the damsel role meself. Is she a looker?" "But I don't have a clue where she is." "Don't you worry your widdle heart bout that mate" the raccoon assured him pointing to his nostrum "This ole sniffer can pick up the trail of any damsel, preferably the naked kind." "This is a piece of her clothing" Chris said proffering the scrap "It's covered with my blood but can you still get a scent from it?"

Snatching it from Redfield's hand Rocket Raccoon sniffed it hard for a minute or so. "Cor blimey, you smell awful" he remarked waving a paw in front of his face "But luckily for us even your ogre stench can't completely obscure the ole whiff of a woman." Jumping off the trash can the beast crawled about the ground like a bloodhound pausing every now and then to stick his nose in the air. The pair caused quite a stir as they stepped out onto the street not that either of them noticed. Rocket Raccoon jumped up pointing down the road "That way mate, the scent is as fate as a the light of a star being sucked into a black hole but damn if ole Rocket Raccoon can't track it through this Earthling heap. Put a little pep in your step mate." The creature scurried off leaving a wake of screaming humans in his wake and Chris Redfield hot on his heels the scrap of cloth clenched tightly in his hand.


	6. Tower of p(AI)n

Chapter 6: tower of p(A.I)n

That same day early in the morning Chun Li was maneuvering down the hallways of the government building, passing by several weary officers who replied to her cheerful good mornings with exhausted nods. The Interpol agent had offered to help out the NYPD root out the rest of the zombie problem, but Mike had been adamant she stay in a spare room for a day or so in order to recover her strength. He had blathered over her, along with Logan and Laura, thanking them heartily for their help; obviously it had been awhile since he had gotten more than three hours of sleep at a shot, if his sporadic behavior was any measure. Grudgingly Logan had also accepted a room from Mike before disappearing into it for the rest of the day. Laura had spent most of her night out and about, much to the consternation of her father. Their subsequent screaming match at three in the morning woke up everyone in the building save Mike who was completely out of it.

Chun was fairly surprised at seeing the mayor in his office looking perfectly fine after sheltering several days of zombie invasion. He was drinking a cup of coffee behind his desk smiling widely at her when she entered the room. "Chun, you look so much better this morning" he greeted gesturing for her to sit down "How are you friends doing?" Chun hesitated for a second, mentally tripping over the word friend "They're both alright, I haven't seen them since yesterday though." "They deserve their rest after all the work they've done." He replied "Of course if you want a few more days off as well I don't have any problem with that." Chun shook her head "I thank you for the offer Mike but I get restless when I'm not doing anything." He gave a rich laugh "You are truly a gem. In that case I wanted you to check up on that second issue I talked to you about." "I'm sorry, I haven't gotten anything concrete on that end yet save…" Mike's eyebrow quirked but he politely said nothing, allowing Chun to iron out the words herself.

"I called headquarters to report about the Avengers, this is the Chinese branch mind you." Chun hesitated again "It was just like you said sir. It was like I didn't know anything." Mike laid back in his chair, hands clasped, with a troubled look on his face "Like you didn't know the colors of the American flag…" he muttered reflecting for a second "I hate to say this Chun but I'm glad this happened. It's selfish but I'm glad I don't have to do this alone." He suddenly launched forward pounding his fist onto his desk "Don't you worry Chun. We'll figure out what the devil is happening here." She nodded enthusiastically "That's what I do best Mike." "Excellent, now are you ready for your mission" he asked her "I manage to procure for you a visit to Stark Tower, head quarters for this 'Avenger' group. The property owner is a man named Tony Stark, here's his dossier." He reached into his desk withdrawing a manila folder "I want you to get a feel for these guys; it'll help us decide exactly what to do next." Chun picked up the file, it had a decent weight, quite impressive for Mike especially since he managed to compile this while dealing with the invasion. Tucking it into her satchel Chun rose up from her chair and gave Mike a bow. "I'll be back as soon as I can." "Be careful Chun" M\he cautioned her "I doubt they're prone to impulsive violence but you'll be walking in blindly." Chun gave a dismissive wave "I've been through worse."

She headed down the hallway to the front entrance when she was accosted by someone to her left. "Damn girl, I didn't think you'd make it." It was the commanding officer who had been holding the police barrier lending Chun use of that denim jacket. "All thanks to you and your advice" Chun replied happily removing the coat from her shoulders "This saved my life more than a single time. You have my deepest gratitude." "Ain't no thing honey" the woman replied taking her coat back "Anyway if you'll excuse me, gotta go report in." Waving good bye Chun left the building breathing in the humid summer air with relish. On the opposing side walk a familiar figure hunched by a nearby building lighting up a cigarette. "Logan" Chun greeted "Good morning." He grunted in reply taking the smoldering stick out of his mouth and crushing it under foot. "What are your plans?" she asked innocently her nose wrinkling from the hazy smoke. "I gotta go see someone" he replied huskily his voice raw from the effects of the smoke "Something doesn't feel right…" He turned to her lowering the full power of his intensive gaze at her "Be careful around Tony Stark, he's a lech through and through." Chun drew back amazed "Were you eavesdropping?" He gave his barking laugh "Can't help it, when you got hearing as good as mine you hear tons of crap, some good some useless."

"Do you think we're crazy" Chun asked setting her gaze astride "for not knowing about the Avengers I mean." "Normally if some average Joe claimed to never have heard of the Avengers I'd say he was crazy or stupid or both." "Normally…" Chun said looking up at him. He paused for a moment before waving his hand dismissively "Forget it" Instead he raised his right hand in front of Chun revealing his claws with a snikt "I'm guessing if you don't have a clue in hell what the Avengers are I guess you don't know what a mutant is either." Chun shook her head "Are they rare or something?" Another barking laugh "Somewhat, they're humans born with extraordinary genes. Most people hate them." Chun cupped her chin with her hand "I guess that explains the claws, the hearing and the fact you could take zombie bites without turning into one." 'And the behavior' she thought darkly but didn't mention it.

"Yeah advanced healing as well as boosted senses." He finished "Me in a nutshell. You're a tough broad to have seen what I can do and still work with me." "I've seen worse" she replied completely honest "Much worse" Logan grunted then turned around stalking off down the street "By the way, I used to be an Avenger. Buncha squabbling pansies, I got out as quick as I could. When you see Stark tell him to go to hell." Chun quirked a smile at his goodbye before heading down the next street, parked next to the far curb was a sleek black limo courtesy of Mike. Stepping in she briefly wondered where Laura had been, perhaps she was getting them a vehicle? The journey to Stark Tower took a mere hour, a miracle for New York City road ways, made possible thanks to the zombie invasion. Nobody had the courage to venture outside for extended periods of time, meaning that the roads were completely clear. The ride was completely uneventful, allowing Chun to look over Tony's dossier. Apparently, before he became a hero and household name seven years ago, Tony Stark was best known for his brilliant mind which combined uneasily with his playboy habits. He had inherited his company from his equally brilliant father; the two of them were responsible for the majority of modern day technology in this world. After a nebulous close call with death via the hands of foreign terrorists he had designed the Iron Man suit as well as coming into a sudden change of heart toward social responsibility. As Iron Man he roamed the skies foiling multiple plots of villainy great and small while his company fought a pitched battle with the timeless evils of the world like hunger and disease.

About five years ago after a particularly hard fought battle that had sketchy details at best, he had initiated the Avengers program seeking several partners to aid him in global safe keeping. Four other members answered his call creating the largest tangible threat to evil the world had ever seen. They were celebrities around the world, beloved by all; even those who hated America revered the group. From the dossier alone it seemed like a fool's errand to scout out their intentions, but Chun knew better than to take something at face value. Tony Stark alone had the power, money, and resources to cause serious problems to the world; this went quadruple for each member of his group. Mike had put more effort into Stark but the others were touched upon briefly in the dossier. Two of them, Captain America and Hawkeye were normal people bolstered by either fantastic training or incredible elixirs. Captain America had been modified with a serum from World War 2; the recipe had been lost to the mists of time, who had been fighting crime since then. Hawkeye had no special powers but the info claimed he was a peerless marksman who had the physique of three athletes in their prime. The other two were the most abnormal which made them the higher priority in Chun's eyes. First there was a man called Thor who could summon lightning with a gesture wielding a mystic hammer only he could wield. The other was a giant, green man who used his incredible strength to rip through opponents with ease; his mind was unstable making him prone to rages. If his behavior was even the smallest bit similar to Logan's, Chun would urge Mike to restrain it immediately if it was possible.

As the limo rolled into the valet parking of the building, Chun checked her appearance in the tinted windows briefly before stepping out. A small, red headed woman greeted her at the entrance of the building. "Hello, I'm Pepper Potts, personal secretary to Mr. Stark, I take it that you are Ms. Li?" she asked in a friendly manner. Chun nodded "That's me alright" she handed over here Interpol ID in formality; Pepper glanced over it briefly before handing the card back to her. "Right this way please, Mr. Stark is awaiting your arrival." Hastily she led Chun through the lobby into a huge glass elevator with the professional bustle of a woman who had been working her job for years. Ignoring the buttons posting the floor numbers Pepper opted to slide her card through a reader on the left side of the elevator opposite the button panel. Without so much as a lurch the machine boosted them quickly into the air allowing Chun to marvel at the amazing view in front of her. The buildings of New York shrunk with each fleeting moment, offering a new, beautiful perspective of the city with each blink of an eye; every second was postcard perfect.

Smoothly the elevator stopped at the very top of the building "This is Mr. Stark's private office" Pepper informed her as the pair stepped out into the anteroom. Directly across from them lay a pair of heavy looking mahogany doors with another card reader positioned slightly to the left of them. Sliding her card through again there was a mechanical click as the doors opened without a sound. "Mr. Stark is expecting you within" the secretary stated gesturing at the room inside. Thanking Pepper for her help Chun stepped inside, the doors closed gently behind her. Chun couldn't help but gape at the room, for an office it was on the cutting edge of interior design. Along with a very expensive looking desk painstakingly carved from rosewood there was a large monitor set up with several screens that informed anyone paying attention to a myriad of things like the stock market, C-SPAN, the news, plus many more channels. The ceiling was clear allowing Chun to gaze up at the blue afternoon sky as well as the wispy clouds trawling about in a westerly direction

While Chun was being escorted through the tower a few buildings away a small spider robot lay hidden under the gutters of a medium sized skyscraper. It could have easily fit into the palm of a human's hand; its mid-section was composed of a shallow glass dome that flashed periodically. From miles away M.O.D.O.K sat comfortably in a hidden base, his face illumined by the large screen that swapped occasionally from the spider's point of view to an overhead view. Carefully M.O.D.O.K maneuvered the spider closer and closer to the Stark Tower. He quickly checked for any surveillance coming from the tower, JARVIS could detect even minute threats coming from miles away. Clacking loudly on his transparent computer screen he opened some codes emanating from the tower and subtly glitched, them allowing his spider to get into prime position. With lightning quick reflexes, M.O.D.O.K jacked into JARVIS' mainframe.

If he wanted to so much as place his pinky into Stark's home he was going to have to bypass his cybernetic guard dog and that was going to prove to be a delightful challenge. Barraging the mainframe with a bevy of viruses M.O.D.O.K found himself holding his breath, he had to stop JARVIS before he alerted Tony that there was an intruder. The killing machine rammed the barrier with every single byte he could process calculating he had about a 64 percent chance of managing to gag JARVIS. Not an optimal chance by any account but being forbidden to go in hands on forced it to be risky. The brute force method worked to a point, JARVIS' main frame had been impaired to an extent, allowing access to the inside of Stark Tower. It had even deleted the memory of the recent hacking attempt from memory saving M.O.D.O.K's bacon. On the other hand JARVIS still had all of its interior surveillance on line while any hacking attempt from the outside had been rendered impossible due to a failsafe barrier falling into place.

"Touché Stark, even I, the ultimate computer, must applaud your genius, intentional or otherwise." The killing machine said with a giggle as he surveyed the locked cybernetic door in front of him "Don't disappoint me now." With flicks of his controllers he sent his robot jumping forth among the rooftops of the ceiling headed toward the tower. Since the memory was fragmented JARVIS wouldn't even realized he had no control of the exterior surveillance, a thought that made M.O.D.O.K laugh with guilty pleasure.

At the lower left hand side of the room was a lounge type area with several sheik seats as well as a lovely white couch. A small coffee table crafted of stained glass sat in the middle of it allowing anyone who might have taken a drink from the nearby wet bar to conveniently place it upon its rainbow surface. The room however paled to the occupants within its walls, the words beautiful elite seemed to have been crafted with their looks in mind. First and foremost was the man, most likely her host, who was dressed impeccably in a gorgeous Italian suit which he wore with a kind of causal, laid back attitude. He had black hair and a matching goatee which curled upward as he flashed his guest a dazzling smile. His companion was probably Aphrodite herself, her beauty seemed to fill every nook of the room with radiance. Her mid-length hair was a fiery sheen of red which brought out her emerald colored eyes. She wore odd attire made of a green and gold spandex suit which fit her perfectly showing off her formidable curves.

"Ms. Chun I presume" the man asked walking toward her with a hand stretched before him "I am Tony Stark; it's an honor to meet you." It took Chun a second longer to react then she would have liked but eventually she shook out of her stupor in order to grasp the man's hand in a friendly shake. "You as well Mr. Stark, I hope I'm not interrupting anything" she replied feeling a bit cowed by them, her own humble origins uncharacteristically made her feel inferior in their presence. "Not at all, I was just leaving" the woman said nodding at Tony "If you'll excuse me." With grace she walked past the pair of them exiting the room through the mahogany doors which opened without her having to press anything. Once she was gone Tony gestured at the seat she had been reclining in earlier "Please, won't you sit down, Ms. Li?" Chun parked herself in the chair while Tony sauntered over to the wet bar "Can I get you anything to drink" he asked. "I would love some tea if you have it" Chun replied demurely.

Once the pair had tasted their drinks Tony crossed his legs and shot her another knee weakening smile "I hear you've come here on behalf of the mayor's office Ms. Li." She nodded placing her cup down on the coffee table "Yes, Mayor Haggar sends his deepest regrets that he is not able to come personally." The superhero waved a hand dismissively "I'm much happier with you here anyways. Let's get down to business shall we?" "The mayor wanted to know if the Avengers had found out whom or what caused this attack in the first place." Chun said "The fact that no one has stepped forward to claim responsibility for this attack worries him greatly." An unreadable emotion passed over his continuously congenial features but it flashed by too quickly for Chun to even begin to guess what it might have been. Stark stood up "Unfortunately a zombie attack isn't one of the signature mark of any major villain we've catalogued in the last decade or so. I have a few guesses as to who it might be but they're mere speculation for now and even then my gut tells me I'm wrong." Walking over to his computer he tapped a few buttons getting the machinery to release a small disk which Stark handed to her. "It's not conclusive yet, I'll still need much more tome to gather data and hunt for clues before I can be sure, but on that disk is a list of super villains who have the skills to try something like that invasion."

Chun pocketed the disk inside her qipao "That's unfortunate but understandable, the mayor is more than willing to provide whatever resources you require to help your search." Tony nodded in thanks before fixing her with a firm stare "If you don't mind me asking, how did an Interpol agent, like yourself, come to work for our honorable mayor in the first place?" "It's a temporary thing "Chun explained "He called me in to help with the zombie invasion, I'll be sticking around for while just in case more start popping up." "That's very noble of you Ms. Li" he commented "I feel safer knowing you're here to protect me." From anyone else's mouth t would have sounded factual, from Tony's mouth it sounded downright lustful. . Blushing for no reason Chun decided to change subjects "The mayor would also like to collaborate with Stark Industries to help rebuild the city." "That's a wonderful idea" Tony replied taking another sip of his beverage "What did he have in mind then?"

M.O.D.O.K had managed to maneuver his robot onto the walls of the Stark Tower scaling it quickly in order to avoid the gazes of anyone on the floors inside. His goal was the roof which would bring him mere feet away from JARVIS' mainframe giving him the best possible position to hack the supercomputer save for actually being directly underneath it. While his hacking spider ascended the building M.O.D.O.K started to corral his other forces, he had brought a small army with him but after running his calculations the predicted outcome was 15:85 in Stark's favor. It annoyed him to know that Doom had specifically forbidden him from tweaking the odds in his favor. His leader seemed adamant that the success of the mission lay solely on if M.O.D.O.K managed to extract the target unseen. Before the super computer got too pissed off, the robot had perched itself at the perfect spot, allowing M.O.D.O.K to reopen JARVIS command prompt again.

The massive amount of data interacted lightly with M.O.D.O.K's servers allowing him to scan for any weaknesses in the script. Targeting several lines of codes the killing machine attacked ruthlessly aiming to silence the computer before it could alert its master. For a few brief seconds, the probabilities shot up and down by the millisecond condemning M.O.D.O.K's attempt to hell then assuring the supercomputer it had a one hundred percent chance of victory. But it had crunched the numbers, twice, and a seventy nine percent chance would be the true likelihood of cracking JARVIS no matter what. The coding finished with a dearth of silence leaving the outcome undecided for a minute. The fact that the weapons system hadn't come online was proof enough, JARVIS had been paralyzed, and the rest would be considerably easier. Throwing in a few more fork bombs for good measure M.O.D.O.K laughed uncontrollably at the victory he had obtained ordering his horde into the unguarded Stark Tower.

Unbeknownst to Chun the mysterious red headed woman had not gone very far when she had left. Leaning up against the wall right next to the card reader she bent her head reaching out with her telepathic powers in order to dive right into the agent's memories. 'Interesting' she thought strolling the through the memories of the recent past 'both her and the mayor are like us, displaced in this most basic of worlds.' Then she got a glimpse of the short, dark stranger who had accompanied her on her journey. She physically flinched, forcing herself to disconnect abruptly as the Phoenix Force inside of her roiled about like a waking predator."Logan" she breathed fighting back the emotions stimulating the beast within her psyche. It was just her luck that the man who could make her lose control would appear here. Grimacing she dove again into the memories doing her utmost to flit about Logan as she pieced together what the Interpol agent knew.

When she submerged, having fully gathered everything she was looking for, she mused over it in her mind. 'Apparently Logan has a child' she thought not at all surprised, her former team mate was hardly the picture of celibacy 'although, her powers are a little too similar to be simple genetics.' Putting that one in the back of her mind she focused on the more relevant parts, the machine Chun had accessed as well as the weird voice that claimed to be independent A.I. 'Unfortunately this doesn't tell us which villains have also been placed here' she pondered 'Perhaps Tony recognizes the tech better than I do." Her reverie was interrupted by the opening of the mahogany doors, the girl Tony had been conversing with looking a bit dumbstruck. "How did it go" she asked the agent causing her to whirl around startled. "Oh…uh….it went well" the girl replied looking a bit sheepish "Is Mr. Stark always so…" The red head gave an understanding smile "He has that effect on every woman, you get used to it eventually."

Giving a grateful smile Chun stuck her hand out "I'm Chun Li; it's nice to meet you." "I'm Jean Grey" the woman replied shaking her hand "It was nice to meet you, Ms. Li." With that Jean returned to Stark's private office as the doors shut behind her with a click. The only other occupant in the room looked t her with a gaze of intrigue "Got anything interesting" Tony asked finishing his drink in one gulp. "You were right about the mayor, he's also from another world just like that girl you just met with." She replied reclaiming her seat. "The mayor is suspicious about what the Avengers are, hence the reason he sent Ms. Li over here." Tony chuckled at that piece of information "If I were in his shoes I'd be surprised too." "There's more" she said waiting for Tony to settle down a bit before placing a hand on his head "These parts in particular should interest you." Psychically she showed him the memories she had copied from the agent's psyche causing Tony to grunt from interest. "That machine…" he commented before trailing off "I've seen designs similar to that before"

"Can you figure out who's responsible" she asked retracting her hand breaking the connection. "It'll take some time but I might be able to narrow it down to few suspects" Tony replied rubbing his temples "That voice on the other hand is completely alien to me. It's probably like JARVIS, independent A.I." Mischievously he glanced up at her from his position on the chair "I think I saw your lover boy in a couple of those scenes." Jean said nothing choosing to wander over to the east window comprised entirely out of glass presenting a fabulous view of New York City. "I never want to see him again" she stated softly, looking down amongst the skyscrapers. Getting up off his chair he stood behind her needling her back with a gaze "Why do you want to go back" he asked "If you go back you'll be dead again, don't you want to be with that mangy old lover boy?" Jean didn't rise to his provocation "Have you ever carried a burden that was so heavy it could crush you at any second? Have you ever had to guard something so diligently you were afraid to sleep for even a minute?"

"The Phoenix Force wants to wake, to fly, to conquer, to destroy everything" shep laced a hand on her head "In our world I failed to notice the corruption spreading through it, the Phoenix Force became so powerful I was unable to contain it and it ripped through my body like wildfire, engulfing all in its wake. Had my companions not defeated it the entire universe would have been turned to ash. If I allow my mental acuity to weaken for a mere second it could be free once more and this time we might not be so lucky. Thousands died because of my weakness" Behind her Tony put a hand on her shoulders "Living is always better than dying, believe me." Jean shook her head "Even death won't stop it, should I perish it would wrench free of my soul and storm about in my corpse uncontained." She turned to look at him her emerald eyes glittering in determination "I must return unto death via going back to my world, anything less is irresponsible of me."

"I'm guessing that Wolverine would be a pretty nasty mental trigger then" Tony predicted "I didn't even know you before you died but even I can tell there's some killer chemistry between you two." "Purely physical I assure you, I made my choice long ago" she replied which only caused him to smile pervertedly. "My favorite kind of chemistry is purely physical" he joked unaffected by her dour gaze. Before she could chide him something chrome suddenly jerked itself in front of the window, there was a brief second before either of them could move then the thing began to shoot at them. The glass shattered threatening to lacerate the both of them while white hot laser blasts streaked about them seeking to disintegrate them upon purchase. Jean reacted quickly, a quick psy wave rent the air knocking the chrome shooter down so it's shots smashed into the floor below them while pushing the glass away from them. Behind her Tony had rushed over to his computer "What the hell are you doing JARVIS?" he asked tapping the computer a few times. The screen booted up out of screen saver revealing a script taking up the full length of the screen with large lines of complex codes being run through it.

It took the genius a few seconds to realize what was going on "Damn" he muttered before yelling over to Jean "We're being hacked, JARVIS is down!" The psychic nodded at him before returning her attention back to the window. The chrome thing had stabilized its flight raising itself back up to its previous height giving the pair an eyeful of it. It was clearly a robot of some kind, a small rectangular thing no bigger than a suitcase with several pistols attached to its side which were beginning to glow from the photon collection. Its barrage of light, however, froze in the air a few feet from it, the laser blasts looked like stars suspended in the night sky. With little more than a shrug Jean reversed their direction sending them back at the robot frying it into silver little pools of melted circuitry. "Jean" tony called out behind her trying to yank his neck free of the new robots that appeared behind them.

These ones were clearly built for melee; their long lanky forms resembled humans slightly. They were also chrome colored from head to foot with no faces giving them a very liquid like look. They had wicked looking claws along with wicked looking blades for elbows. One robot had its clawed hands around Tony's neck threatening to cut through it like cheese if Jean so much as twitched. Dipping into a smidge of Phoenix Force power she empowered her telekinesis enough to grab control of one of the robots. Simultaneously the one she controlled stabbed the one holding Tony who was hoisted into the air via telepathy. "Send me out the window" the CEO cried as the attack bots began to advance on their position. "Hurry back; I don't know how much longer I can keep it contained" she instructed him before chucking him outside.

As he tumbled through the air Tony grabbed his phone hitting a series of buttons to activate part of Stark Tower. Different sections of his Iron Man suit flew out of cracks and crevices of the building, a special deployment system that used tubes located in the exterior walls to shuttle his suit outside just in case he wasn't able to get inside to obtain it. With each floor a new piece attached itself to descending millionaire until the entire outfit was primed for flight just before Stark fell below the fifth floor of Stark Tower. Activating his jets he boosted himself back up skimming the surface of his building in his haste. However, whoever had shut down JARVIS had also taken control of Stark Tower's defensive programs. He raced against the building as an army's worth of weapons began to deploy from every feasible surface.

His determined push to get back to Jean was interrupted by a volley of every conceivable type of ammunition known to mankind. Flipping about in midair Iron Man planted his feet on the walls of Stark Tower than pushed the acceleration to its highest output. Like a crimson shot he was away allowing the volley to pierce empty air and fall down into the empty street below. Tony swung about in a U-turn to continue his flight back to his comrade only to spot a multitude of metal flying toward him. Cursing vividly Stark sent a small volley of uni-beams at the formation knowing full well what sort of trouble he was in. When he built the Tower's defensive measures he had, in a perceived fit of brilliance, decided to add a small retinue of Iron Man suits which would act as unmanned guards in case some idiot super villain got the bright idea to attack his home while he was away. Never had it entered the genius' mind that the same system designed to be visual middle finger for the poor bastard trespassing on his doorstep could possibly used to be a major pain in ass for him.

Before he engaged in aerial combat with his mechanical doppelgangers he glanced up at the penthouse suite anxiously. The air surrounding the top of Stark Tower had begun to gleam and shimmer the same way the summer sun creates invisible waves off of asphalt. 'Shit' was his last thought as a uni-beam screamed by him. Even with all his technological prowess there were certain laws of nature Tony couldn't overcome, G-Force was one of those problems. A human body could only take so much of the force before being turned into jelly; unmanned drones had no such limitations. Twisting about the air Tony banked sharply to avoid a group of uni-beams sending off a few of his own. The formation of Iron Man drones scattered in perfect synchronization to dodge his scatter shot attacks before reconfiguring into a tight V shaped group which scorched an entire plane of air with a carpet of lasers.

Unable to dodge in time Iron Man settled for turning about in midair so he was facing the drones summoning the biggest, strongest energy shield he had equipped on this particular suit. Knocked into a nearby skyscraper Tony grimaced as the heat of the two energies colliding overpowered his cooling systems threatening to cook him alive in his suit. Activating his foot blasters he shot backwards into the building carving a path of destruction through the interior until he smashed through the other side of the wall. Landing on the concrete below he took a second to groan in pain from the first degree burns accumulating on his body. Heaving a sigh he got back onto his feet activating his shoulder rockets which circled the building looking for targets.

The minute a drone appeared destroying the missile with a uni-beam Iron Man shot forward grabbing the troublesome empty suit's head. A quick laser to the head melted its circuitry; it was a small victory almost meaningless by itself. It had taken way too much ammo to destroy this thing; while his lasers ran off his arc reactor; his missiles were not as easily replenished. Above him the drones had destroyed the rest of his missiles and converging once again on his position. As he flew off once again he noted that the guard drones were missing one, the "captain" of their little fleet so to say. Hoping it wouldn't be making an appearance any time soon Iron Man set his sights on the stratosphere with the entire retinue of suits in hot pursuit.

Below him within Stark Tower's lobby Chun had just jumped down from a nearby rafter, the elevator had gotten stuck when the robots had attacked. In front of her the Stark tower employees were scattered about willy-nilly screaming in sheer tower as a monstrous mass of metal rampaged through in their midst. With a jerk of its head it stared at her for a second before releasing a volley of flares at her. Reflexively Chun shot a blast of Kikoken at the incoming projectiles before cartwheeling her way behind a nearby overturned desk. Whatever wasn't extinguished by the Chi blasted harmlessly against the sturdy granite surface of the desk she had ducked behind. "What the hell is that thing" Chun asked peeking over the top, luckily the metal thing had set its sights in other things to smash. "That's Proto Merkabah" a voice quivered beside her. "Pepper" Chun exclaimed, the poor personal secretary looked terrified at what was going on around her.

"It's a relief to see that you're alright Ms. Li" Pepper said "I don't suppose you can get us out of this situation?" "Depends" Chun replied glancing back at the robot "What exactly is a Proto Merkabah?" "It's a special unmanned Iron Man built by Mr. Stark to defend Stark Tower, usually it's accompanied by a retinue of smaller Iron Man units." Pepper said "The only real weakness I remember it having is the fact it can't shoot uni-beams thanks to the huge amount of energy it draws from its Arc reactor to power itself." That did little to encourage Chun who was trying to look for some sort of weak spot on its shiny alloy body. "Here's the plan, when I attack it, you and the other employees should evacuate out the front door as fast as you can" Chun explained "What about you" Pepper asked "I don't doubt your abilities at all but there's no way you'll be able to so much as dent it using blunt force alone." Chun shrugged nonchalantly "I'll think of something when you guys are a safe distance away." Hunkering down she glanced at Pepper who took a deep breath to calm her nerves before nodding in preparation for what was to go down.

Jumping out from behind her cover Chun charged the machine from behind sending all nine feet of it down on the ground with a spectacular roundhouse kick. Pounding its back with a barrage of Kikoken Chun couldn't help but feel a swell of confidence at how easily it went down, perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Naturally the moment she began to feel good about this fight it all went to pot, the robot shot a foot out knocking her down before whipping a metal wrist at her sending the poor agent tumbling a few feet away. Completely unaffected by her little assault on his behind Proto Merkabah stood back up and turned to his opponent. Aiming his fingers he placed a small red laser onto his target's head which was all the warning she got before he fired nasty looking tranquilizer darts at her.

With a cry of surprise she rolled away from the attack watching the darts shatter on the ground where they began to leak their noxious liquids. Finding cover behind a column Chun played a brief game of cat and mouse with the metal titan exchanging projectiles with him for a second until he ran out of tranqs. Undeterred Proto Merkabah shattered the column with one punch sending Chun skittering away from him through the rubble. A small space of about ten feet lay between the two opponents giving Chun a second to look around for Pepper. The red haired secretary was helping an injured employee out of the building while several more escaped of their own volition but Chun couldn't rest yet, more heads popping out from behind random points of cover gave her a rough estimate of how many employees were still in trouble.

Both machine and woman began round two in a much more traditional fashion. Like many fights she had been in before Chun knew the basic steps of this initial dance, move forward cautiously with slight steps ready to strike at any second. Mincing her way forward she watched as the robot did the same, Stark really was quite brilliant if he could get this jerky pile of scrap to mirror the grace and beauty of a skilled martial artist. The machine put its hands up as it circled about her before it lunged forward with a ground shattering haymaker. Side-stepping it effortlessly Chun stepped forward but retreated jerking up her knee every now and then if she were about to strike. The robot pulled its fist out of the marble floor before mirroring her attitude, to the ignorant it looked like a boring dance of some kind. In reality it was much more akin to two chess masters trying to predict the next move, where to strike, what the opponent's goal is, and making sure their flank was guarded from surprise attacks. All these questions swam through Chun's mind as she stalled for time trying to draw this confrontation out as long as she could.

Proto Merkabah stepped forward bringing the pace of the battle up a notch circling her with short fast footsteps while feinting with his fists. The Interpol agent matched him feint for feint, her own shuffle using aggressive steps to force him back while twirling about ready to dodge a jab at any second. Finally Proto Merkabah saw an opening and shot his hand forward aiming for her solar plexus with a palm thrust that would have shattered her ribs if it connected. Swaying back, Chun dodged it effortlessly, sending a blast of Kikoken to stun it for quick second, allowing her to back off just enough to hit him with kick to the middle. She followed it up with a combination of high to low attacks her shoes ringing with each blow that found purchase on the metal casing. A powerful roundhouse knocked him back a few feet giving her room to flip forward smashing his head in with a heel drop. Taking a small cue from Zangief she straddled his head to hold him steady with her thighs as she launched a second barrage of Kikoken straight down hoping to blast his circuitry wide open.

The machinery whined a bit but still managed to buck her off its neck sending her onto her ass behind him as he stood up ready to pay her back two fold. Lightning fast jabs rained down around her forcing the Interpol agent to twist about wildly to dodge and even then several blows managed to graze her body. A desperate blast of Kikoken allowed her to get back onto her feet but Chun was forced onto the back foot as the suit advanced with mechanically precise jabs. Wading in aggressively the robot used a nasty hook to open her right side long enough for him to sucker punch her. Taking the blow with gnashing teeth Chun answered back with an arcing kick to the head which resounded with a clang before ducking low to try and sweep him. The robot hopped over her foot clasping both hands to try and splatter her with a pound which she dodged by swinging her own body up into a handstand mere inches away from the crater he made. In a perfect position she launched straight into her signature attack, the Spinning Bird Kick, which smashed against his head raising an awful cacophony.

She landed on one hand still upside down allowing her slam her left heel into its neck which did not snap back like she had planned. Chun's reliance on that cost her dearly as the robot grabbed her foot lifting her up. Repetitively he hammered her rib cage without a trace of mercy no doubt breaking a fair amount of them before slamming her down on the ground. Giving a screech of pain Chun tried to wriggle out of his grasp only to get slammed once again which nearly made her faint from the brutal wave of pain that blossomed within her thoracic cavity. While this brutal beat down was going on Pepper was scurrying around the room making sure everyone got out of the building. Satisfied everyone was safe she turned her attention to Proto Merkabah which was laying into Chun, how would she free the poor agent? Anxiously she bit her lip bringing up her phone; the screen confirmed she was still locked out of command prompt. Another meaty thump alerted her to the tragedy going on in front of her making her pull her crimson locks in frustration.

'C'mon Potts think, think' she grimaced 'You know Stark tech better than most people…wait!' Turning her phone around she took the battery cover off and opened up the circuitry board voiding her warranty instantly but gave her access to the battery output prongs. Unbidden, a memory of Stark appeared in her head reciting a brief rant he had given her when she had complained about how quickly her phone drained its charge. Recalling it perfectly she broke it down into mental bullet points that helped her jerry rig the device. Grabbing a nearby battery from a discarded cell phone she pulled out a couple of wires which sparked a bit. Stalking forward behind the machine Pepper poised her arm ready to strike the minute she got into range. The moment the machine slammed the agent into the ground the fearless secretary lunged forward stabbing the end of her phone into the back of Proto Merkabah sending tens of thousands of volts into the suit.

The titanium titan froze up for a bit giving Pepper the few precious seconds she needed to haul Chun away from the security drone. The stun bolt would only last for a few minutes at best hastening the secretary's steps as she tugged at the agent. The pair was just over the threshold of the building when Pepper heard the suit stir back to life with a hiss alerting her that it had taken mere milliseconds for the machine to recover. Her stomach lurched as she stutter-stepped into the street looking for some kind of cover, where the hell was Iron Man when she needed him? A sudden explosion from atop the tower caused her to scream in fright as large plumes of violent orange flames bathed the building. Her horror was cut short by a metallic footstep; Proto Merkabah was operational once again and headed straight for them. Fumbling with her phone she tried to prep it for another shock only to find that the last one had fried the device entirely, it was no more than a smoking pile of plastic.

Futilely she continued dragging the agent across the street as the security suit stalked them praying for a miracle. Pepper Potts was many things, bright, beautiful, competent, and many more but first and foremost she was lucky. She had been born under a lucky star and said luck continued to surface at critical junctures of her life. Meeting Tony Stark had been one of those lucky moments, as well as meeting her former lover Harry, and now just before she was being splattered by sinister machinery a red and blue saucer slammed into the suits head tearing its attention away from her. "Pepper, where is Stark" Captain America asked grabbing his shield out of the air. "I don't know" she replied watching Proto Merkabah turn to face his new opponent "I'm going to take Ms. Li to safety, please be careful." "You too Ms. Potts" the super hero said tossing his shield at empty Iron Man suit. The machine fell back a bit as it the weapon smashed against its chest before charging forward, attempting to squash the Avenger into gummy paste.

While they fought the Hulk landed on the top of Stark Tower looking around for the source of the fire. His feet moved unaffected by the extreme heat given off by the melted metallic parts covering the floor adding to the retina searing light filling the place. "Hulk no like this" the green beast muttered getting a bad feeling in the base of his stomach. A vague silhouette suddenly materialized in the middle of the room but because of the shimmer of the air the green Avenger couldn't tell who it was. "Who you" he barked shading his eyes with his palm "Need help?" A nasty cackle ripped through the air "I am I and I shall consume all!" With a bird shriek it flew past Hulk in an inferno out into the sky where it began to scatter fireballs the size of automobiles down upon the city. "Hulk no like puzzles" it screamed following the flame into the air knocking it into a building with a backhand. The flames cooled long enough for Hulk to get a glimpse of the fiery figure, it was a girl with dark red tresses and an evil smile that could kill orphans. "Pitiful beast, to lay a hand upon this radiance" she chided him before slamming into his torso sending the pair of them hurtling to the ground.

"Prepare they mind, mortal scum, to be filled with the hell of a thousand suns" she screeched trying to telepathically destroy his psyche. Unfortunately this was the Hulk she was trying to mentally erase, the big brute didn't have a whole lot going on upstairs beside the switch for his two modes, angry and pissed angry. "That tickles" he commented grinning at her "time to sleep" The look of surprise on her face could only be rivaled by the intense look of hatred she leveled him with when she realized she couldn't find any sort of purchase for her attack. The Hulk tapped her lightly on the head with just enough force to knock her out and the minute she was unconscious the flames around her body as well as those burning away at the building extinguished. Right before he landed on the road Captain America grabbed Proto Merkabah spinning him about several times before sending him tumbling along the ground. It creaked as it began to get up but the weight of the Hulk and his passenger proved to be the breaking point. Scratching off the heap of scrap metal molded about his feet Hulk handed the mysterious burning lady over to Captain America.

"Good job" the American hero remarked gazing in puzzlement at her face "I feel like I know who this is…"Before he could reflect much more on the beauty in his arms Thor touched down with a mini earthquake supporting a weary Iron Man on one shoulder. "My mission has been most successful mine boon companions" he told them hoisting his hammer in the air "Took not more than a moment to clear the skies of such bloodless villains. Forsooth had I been but a hair longer Iron Man would breathe no more upon this mortal plane." "Put a sock in it Shakespeare, I was doing fine without you" Stark grumbled as he staggered onto his own two feet "What the hell are you guys doing here anyway?" "Forgive us Stark for doing our jobs" Captain America said dryly "We heard over the police scanners that there were explosions sighted around your home so we figured you might need a hand." "It was being handled Steve" Tony snapped back "Ah yes, how could I not miss your expert handling skills" Captain America gestured to the destruction surrounding Stark Tower from the large pieces of rubble to the thick veil of smoke ascending t the atmosphere.

Unable to come up with any sort of rebuttal Iron Man settled for reclaiming his mutant companion from his former friends "Get out" he hissed. "Not without helping out those injured" Captain America replied coolly before turning to talk to his Avengers "Thor take the left, Hulk start carting as many as you can carry to the nearest hospital, I'll take the right." The trio dispersed without a word leaving a fuming Iron Man alone to curse their existence before getting retreating back into the Tower to tend to Jean. While Tony licked his wounds Captain America had spotted a familiar shock of red hair "Ms. Potts, are you alright?" The secretary breathed a sigh of relief as the flag clad hero stomped over to her "Is it over" she asked looking up at him. She was kneeling over an Oriental woman who was writhing in pain from the large dark bruises forming everywhere on her body. "Ms. Li needs to get to a hospital quickly; she was the one fighting Proto Merkabah before the Avengers showed up." Carefully the super soldier examined poor woman checking for head, neck or back injuries "I hate to say this but we'll have to wait an ambulance."

"Will she be ok" the secretary whimpered remembering how much she and the other employees owed her for saving their lives. "With some time to recuperate she'll make a full recovery" Potts sighed in relief "Thank goodness, and thank you Captain America for helping us." The man just gave a hearty chuckle "I do this every day Potts, the real hero here is you. You could have run away and leave this woman to her fate but you risked your own safety." The secretary blushed and waved a hand dismissively "I'm just another civilian Captain America, you and Ms. Li beat Proto Merkabah off." The thought of the unmanned Iron Man suit suddenly made her jerk her head up searching the area frantically "Have you seen Mr. Stark? I don't know where he was while this attack was happening." Had she been looking at Captain America's face she would have noticed his usually stoic mug darken at Tony's name "Ms. Potts, may I ask you a…strange question?"

The personal secretary pursed her lips for a bit "Sure, what is it you want to know?" "Do you know the name of that strange lady clad in green and gold" Captain America asked "I feel like I've seen her somewhere before." "That would be Ms. Grey" Pepper informed him "She requested an appointment with Mr. Stark yesterday and they've been holed up in the penthouse ever since." "I see…so it's just Stark's business as usual, huh?" Pepper shook her head "I'm not so sure that's the case, she's extremely attractive but I'm just not getting that vibe between the two of them. I think it might be something else…I…I…" she trailed off as a sudden well of emotion began to burn in her chest. She suddenly looked up and needled the super hero with a clear gaze "For the first time since I began my job here I'm not sure what's going on in Tony's mind. He's been really distant lately, I rarely see him anymore other to bring him stuff. I know this might sound crazy to you but something is just…wrong…out of sync somehow. Not just with Tony but with Ms. Grey as well, the looks she gives me…it's like she's dead or something."

_Out of sync, dead or something _these words resonated inside Captain America drawing forth a memory of long ago. It was before the Avengers had assembled, shortly after he had been revived by S.H.I.E.L.D, a huge event had happened that had set the super hero community abuzz with anxiety. Cap hadn't really been paying attention then, the trauma of being displaced in time by a period about sixty decades had numbed him towards anything else that didn't concern the forties. Yet even while he had been locked away in his little angst shell this event had been so monumental even he hadn't been able to escape from hearing about it. The memory was a bit fuzzy but two particular elements of it stood out, the first was the name Jean Grey and the second was the extreme grief behind the declaration that she was dead. _Dead like he had been. _"Ms. Potts, can you wait here for the ambulance with Ms, Li. I need to meet Ms. Grey as soon as I can." A quick flash of something passed by Pepper's face but even with his incredible eyesight Cap couldn't even begin to guess what it was "Of course Captain America, you go ahead and deal with your duties."

Biding goodbye to the redhead Captain America began to scout for his former friend, he had taken Ms, Grey so he was probably in an empty room somewhere doing typical Tony stuff. Heading into Stark Tower he began to question the employees cleaning up inside if they had seen their boss. Naturally they had seen him or more accurately the red head he been carting around the Tower, even Captain America had to admit that Ms. Grey was stunning beyond belief. Eventually he tracked the pair to a spare bedroom on the thirtieth floor, grabbing the door knob he mentally prepared himself for walking in on the two doing the horizontal tango. Instead he found Tony tending to Ms. Grey's wounds and he did not look happy that the super soldier had found him. "I thought I told you to get the hell out of here" he muttered placing a cold wet rag on the woman's head before grabbing a nearby tablet. "There's something going on here Tony, and I want to get to the bottom of it."

"What makes you think anything is going on?" Tony asked logging onto the computer, endless streams of codes blocked the genius' way making him frown. "Ms. Grey, was it? I believe she was supposed to be dead much like I was." "A miracle I suppose" the CEO said dismissively "After all you're here standing in front of me too." "Ah yes, odd how you have no doubts that Ms. Grey is the genuine article despite the fact only a few days ago you claimed could be nothing more than an imposter." "I still believe you are an imposter, Steve" Tony replied dryly brining up his left hand, it was still encased in the Iron Man armor "If this is the part about where you shed your silly little disguise and try to assassinate me I'll disintegrate you." Captain America rolled his eyes "I thought you were above such games Stark." "No game Steve, I don't know what you're talking about" Realizing how futile this scouting mission was going to be Captain America decided to leave, he would have to find the answers on his own.

"I'll leave you two alone for now" he announced moving quickly before Tony could bite back "But know this Stark; I don't care what you're hiding, if it is going to endanger the earth I will stop it." Tony didn't bother to reply, he knew Cap was on one of those more- hero-than-thou rants per the status quo of the first Avenger. Once Captain America was gone Tony turned his full attention to the screen in front of him, during the conversation he had managed to break up whatever was blocking him from accessing the command prompt of JARVIS' internet connections that controlled the majority of the tower. Tony had been fully confident that his own master password would allow him to regain the control of JARVIS; the surprise on his face was earthshaking when he found that he was denied at every turn when he input his master password. 'Whoever hacked JARVIS was beyond genius' he thought as his password was rejected yet again 'It's a blessing in disguise really, this narrows down the list of suspects quite a bit.' Still his victory was Pyrrhic at best, his system would be down for quite awhile as he would have to reconstruct the code from scratch, delete and replace the corrupted data, along with malware protection, and the list went on and on.

While Tony tapped fruitlessly at his computer screen the one who had so flawlessly hacked him was making his way back to the main hideout having successfully completed his mission. Had any unfortunate sewer repair man been down in the sewers leading between the Stark Tower and Chelsea he would have been rammed into the shit by M.O.D.O.K who was beating a solo hasty retreat carrying something in his lap. He was giggling like a maniac, as per the status quo, at the theory he had begun to construct in his mind about why exactly Doom had wanted this piece of technology and if he was right then it was truly diabolical. Along with the tech and the theory he had also gathered a plethora of data on the Avengers as well as several individuals who had grabbed his attention. First and foremost was the woman his databanks had revealed as the infamous Phoenix, destroyer of stars and creator of lusty love triangles.

Despite the fact this particular mutant was supposed to be dead, largely thanks to a massive task force of heroes who had fought the cosmic horror, the red haired wench had been revived by the forces that be and had cottoned on to the situation going down in this world. M.O.D.O.K shivered with excitement, should he tell their esteemed leader that phase three was likely going to happen a lot faster than he predicted or keep it under his monitor until it blew up in Doom's face? Laughably the answer was obvious; he was going to use this little crinkle in the plan to further his own ends. While poor old Doom struggled to keep his plan together the super computer would make his move, clearly this particular dimension was devoid of most of the obstacles that had prevented him from accomplishing his goals in the past. The first order of business would be to rebuild A.I.M; even though he could handle anything himself it was nice to be able to delegate the more insignificant tasks to hapless interns. Hopefully Wesker would yield to his superiority choosing work under him as yet another faceless mook getting him battery fuel but in the highly likely case the egomaniac was too high minded to grovel before him M.O.D.O.K was highly inclined to vaporize him. After all the ambitious blond had given him such a nice zombie making formula that he deserved a quick splattery death as thanks.

A little upgrade here and there plus boring sneaky stuff would finally get him to his favorite part, the part he had been painstakingly crafting since he had met Earth's super heroes: the part where he brutally killed each and every one of them. He almost drooled as he played back the high resolution simulation he had created of him bashing Captain America's head in with his iconic shield which came right before he reassembled Dr. Doom into a lava lamp for his private office. His reverie was stopped by the beeping of his chair's monitor which alerted him that they were nearing the entrance to his top secret lair. Typing in a long symbol of words and numbers the killing machine opened a secret passage from the sewers into the foyer of his lab which was fairly empty of experiments. Carefully he unloaded the technology he had stolen onto one of the surgical tables lying about the room, time to see what exactly this thing was capable of.

The device was a long cylinder about ten times the width of a man's arm made of space worthy alloy which gleamed dully. A myriad of panels lay were embedded about the thing from tip to top offering a wide array of choices when it came to doing whatever this thing did. The bottom was round and riveted with a very big electrical cord coming out if which was clearly designed to plugged into something. Whatever that something was it could not be socket, that was for sure, the top of the device had a small radio dish with an accompanying computer screen that branched off the device to make it easy to access as well as an Arc Reactor which had been carefully welded underneath the dish in order to power the device. Being the mechanical genius he was, M.O.D.O.K in instantly recognized what sort of device this was and how well made it had was. This was a variant of a machine called the Radiant Energy Gathering and Storage Unit (or REG-SU in shorthand) which A.I.M had used for centuries to obtain samples of immaterial energy which required special methods to store. From gamma rays to photons to the energies given off by black holes the REG-SU had been a useful urn whenever M.O.D.O.K had needed to upgrade his chair. This particular version was not to be used to capture any old kind of energy, it was specially built for one specific kind which was notoriously hard to siphon from its source.

As he tapped away at the REG-SU's computer module the killing machine's smile continued to widen until it threatened to split his face in two with every inquiry he made. After a few breathless moments he turned away jittery from the three emotions pounding away inside his frame. First and foremost there was the conflicting emotion of respect and hatred for his former colleague for thinking up this fiendishly clever idea. Then there was the small, unwanted kudos to Tony Stark for coming up with this invention whose design had eluded his vastly superior mind for the past half-decade or so. Finally there was the excitement of building upon his plan, screw settling for ripping everyone he hated a new one, why not simply place them in an eternal hell of his own design which would repeatedly enact horrors upon their bodies and minds until the end of time? Such power was now in his grasp with this device and there was no way in the cosmos he was simply going to hand it over to Dr. Doom like an obedient school boy.

With some pep in his propulsion M.O.D.O.K began to wheel about the room grabbing several tools with the grace of someone who had done this before. Quickly he scanned the device then rolled out a bundle of space alloy which matched its exact specifications to the letter. Throughout the night the killing machine worked tirelessly to replicate the device he had stolen, an easy feat for one such as him but the work had to be flawless or Doom would get suspicious. The wee hours of the morning came and went before the machine grew close to completion, all it needed now was flaw that would prevent it from being able to draw 75% of the power it normally could. It took some jiggering with the computer module as well as some inferior quality wire for the interior but eventually a copy of the REG-SU stood next to the original which had a completely inextinguishable façade.

Carefully M.O.D.O.K packaged the fake into his chair to present to Doom while hiding the original within his lab. It bummed him out somewhat that it would be awhile before he could start using it for his own purposes. Exiting out of his lab he placed it under heavy lockdown while concealing any sensory evidence that it was even there in the first place, the killing machine took off for the rendezvous point glad it wouldn't be Doom meeting him there, Super Skrull would be responsible for the pickup and no doubt the alien would be fuming mad at how late the super computer was. As he hovered on M.O.D.O.K contemplated what sort of lie he would have to tell the guys when he returned.


	7. The Viper and the Spider

Chapter 7: The Viper and the Spider

The waning moon rose slowly over the city of New York, bringing with it yet another of many nights its residents would suffer beneath the starless blanket wondering if that creak they just heard was a zombie menace ready to strike at them from the shadows of their house. The traffic on the streets was at a low unseen since the late nineteenth century, the only crowded sector was Times Square where people felt safe huddled within a swath of humanity. It was a humid summer night, typical New York weather, and a stiff breeze was the only solace for as she waited for her target to appear amidst the roofs of the skyscrapers. The CIA agent was quite patience, after all before getting involved with Shadaloo and the circus of fighting freaks they continually attracted, she had once done regular CIA stunts like gathering intel. Still, turning foreign contacts into trustworthy informants and clandestine rendezvous with MI6 agents with specific alcoholic choices paled in comparison to how the constant threat of being uncovered as she maneuvered about the murky depths of the lunatic organization known as S.I.N.

Yet even while astutely watching the shadows for any sign of movement, found her mind wandering to a weird conversation she had today with her superiors. Having successfully brought in the mysterious angel that the CIA had been hunting frantically throughout the past few days, the suit clad agent had been rewarded with the "privilege" of meeting with the head of her department for some praising that was little more than cheap platitudes so they wouldn't have to blow money on giving her a paid vacation. After the usual rounds of "Great work Viper "and "You're the best" from men she hardly knew was caught off guard when they immediately issued her another assignment. Typically this would be parceled out by her handler, who was missing from the gathering, but apparently the superiors wanted to keep this very low profile. To say the mission was convoluted would be an understatement at best and yet here she was being a good agent waiting to apprehend the bad guy.

Unlike most of her missions so far, this one had nothing to do with either Shadaloo or typical spy stuff; in fact it was a basic manhunt the police did on an everyday basis. However, this was no ordinary criminal she was trying to arrest; according to her superiors this was a former superhero. Naturally when she had heard them say that it had taken some effort not to laugh in their faces. "Superheroes" were paragons of virtue, men whose morals were so incorruptible they could do no wrong. Every situation they got into had a clear, moral solution and they never had to stain their hands with blood. could claim with the absolute conviction borne out of years of being an agent, of having to make the decision to sacrifice one for the sake of many, of being forced to kill her enemies in the blink of an eye, such men and women only existed within the highly idealistic minds of the masses. As such the belief that any rational adult would go about claiming to be an ally of justice in this day and age was simply absurd to her.

Yet her superiors were adamant that this man she was sent to capture was a legitimate hero. Each of them was convinced of this hero's former integrity to the point where certain members of the head of her organization were actually fighting amongst themselves if this super hero was actually guilty of the crimes he had been accused of. This threw her off guard quite a bit; these men weren't politicians who had never experienced a single day of hard work of their lives. These were former field agents stretching back as far as the Korean War They knew the price of peace wasn't always as simple as reconciliation between two nations; in fact peace often required some blood and deception to be stabilized.

Her target's name was Spider-Man; known only by his hero alias instead of his actual name. Recently some guy had come forward claiming to have evidence to prove that Spider-Man had something to do with the zombie invasion New York had suffered over the past couple of days. Whatever he had presented to the district attorney had enough impact to get an issue warranted for this hero's arrest. Unfortunately capturing him would prove to be very difficult thanks to the incredible maneuverability he had. Spider-Man was capable of swinging from building to building using something called "web fluid" which left the police scrambling to follow him about on the ground. During the last hour or so the NYPD had to swallow a ton of bitter bile and ask the CIA for assistance in arresting him. Unable to resist asserting their superiority her bosses had accepted in the blink of an eye before realizing the same obstacles that applied to the NYPD would also apply to them. Along with corralling some back up which included a fleet of choppers as well as some outside assistance they had decided to really seal the deal by bringing in their big guns: .

Hence her current position scanning rooftops for the clown in a pajamas. Even though the dossier and her superiors described Spider-Man as a very competent individual, just couldn't buy that the red and blue clad hero could possibly be any sort of threat. She had faced down threats that could have destroyed the world; there was no way some arachnid themed "superhero" was a possible match for her battle prowess. Idly she played with her gauntlet making it spark as she checked to make sure that it was in working condition which brought up a second train of thought. After she had been briefed on what sort of mission she would be going on her superiors had suggested she'd get her tech suit checked by the lab. It was while the science guys were messing with it that something odd had cropped up in their conversation with her.

After the habitual drooling over the tech suit by the lab technicians they had eventually shaken out of their physics induced stupor and started working on making sure all the weapons were working at their maximum parameters. The head honcho of these tech guys, a guy called Shtarker who she was acquainted with, lovingly remarked that the suit was the best thing that had ever come out of the government science branch. Once again had been thrown off her guard; her tech suit had not been made by any branch of the government but by a secret organization known as S.I.N. As a sleeper agent acting on behalf of the nefarious organization her bosses in the CIA had all but passed out from delight when she reported to them that she had volunteered to wear the proto type tech suit S.I.N had built. For the past five years the upper echelons of U.S intelligence had been abuzz with the information that S.I.N was looking to upgrade the common soldier by having them wear a suit to vastly improve their fighting capabilities. The fact that the CIA had not only gotten their own agent deep enough into S.I.N to observe how the suit was being built but to have been nominated as the guinea pig to wear it was a major feather in their cap. The pride had translated into constant conversation about how had gotten the suit to the point where it had become legendary.

But the tech guys, the ones who had drooled the most over the suit and memorized every detail about 's mission like it was a religious mantra, had suddenly come to the conclusion they had been the ones to build it. She had quizzed them as vaguely as she could but all their answers had come up the same, they had been the ones to build the suit. The more she dug the stranger the conversation got, from the tech guys to her superiors no one knew what Shadaloo or S.I.N was. It was like being in the Twilight Zone, everything she knew was inverted in some unnatural way. Eventually she was forced to focus on her mission but the feeling of alienation hadn't abated in the slightest no matter how much she tried to push it down. Her reverie was mercifully broken by a ringing in her ear; someone was calling her on the Bluetooth. Pressing the button she crossed her arms "Did you spot him" she asked hoping to heaven she wouldn't have to keep waiting here with these pesky thoughts.

"Target sighted ma'am" a voice on the other end replied "This is chopper four and I've got the spotlight trained on the little bugger for now but he's fast. I'm sending the coordinates to all units." "Understood, I'll be there shortly" said limbering up a little in preparation for the hunt " , over and out." Taking a deep steady breath she pushed away all thoughts concentrating on the kinetic motion she accumulated as she raced towards the edge of the building taking a giant leap into the air. In the middle of her ascent she boosted herself briefly to get the small amount of extra air she needed to get to the next rooftop. After a few more of these wild jumps she had gained enough momentum to start parkouring her way quickly to the coordinates without needing to rely on any kind of technology, better to save the juice just in case this Spider-Man wanted to resist arrest.

Before long she spotted a small unit of helicopters, all trying as hard as possible to keep their spotlight shined on a frenzied bolt of red and blue. While she had been in transit most of the CIA agents acting as backup had done their utmost to try and subdue the super hero with their passable martial arts but they were easily outmatched by the arachnid. Bounding about the roomy rooftop Spider-Man effortlessly beat each and every agent into unconsciousness dodging the flurry of fists aimed at his head with inhuman grace. Once they had a clear shot the gunners in the helicopters tried to snipe the hero with tranquilizer darts to no avail. "Cmon guys, can't you fill me in why your angry with me" the hero asked as he twisted about to avoid a volley of darts "We can talk about this, really, I'm an understanding guy." "Suck on this wall crawler" one of the guys shouted over the roar of the blades angling to get a better shot at the wiseass only to get yanked out of the copter by a long strand of white webbing. Using the poor soul as a shield, Spider-Man managed to avoid several shots which jabbed their noxious fluids into his hostage instead.

"Sheesh, I know me and Fury aren't on the best of terms right now" Spider-Man commented dropping the snoozing agent onto the hard cement to shoot several balls of webbing at the windows of the copters "but this is a little much for S.H.I.E.L.D isn't it?" A nasty kick smashed into his back sending him tumbling across the ground forcing him to use a few quick flips to get back on his feet and face his opponent. "Wow, Black Widow, nice dye job" he remarked looking at "Although the bouffant is a bit much to be honest." "Hate to break it to you but I don't know what you're talking about" she replied before charging forward. Certain she would go down like the others Spider-Man let her approach dodging her first jab then parrying a quick kick before trying to send her onto her ass with a sweep kick. She jumped over it before trying to give him a concussion with a heel drop, when she missed she left a few cracks in the cement. "Eating your Wheaties, huh" he remarked sending her skidding back with kick to the middle "I applaud you guys for your persistence but it sure would be nice to know why exactly you're attacking me." "The DA issued a warrant for your arrest" explained fixing her glasses "Apparently you've been accused of aiding the zombie invasion of New York." The hero's eyes bugged out "What, seriously? Why the hell would you buy a story like that? Do I look like the kind of guy who would do something like that? I'm an arachnid themed super hero not some poor emo necromancer" shrugged "Don't know, don't care, my mission is to bring you in for questioning. This might have gone smoother if you didn't try resisting arrest."

"Sorry, I don't do jumpsuits" he snarked back before freezing for a second and looking down at what he was wearing "I don't do orange jumpsuits." "Well it's not like you were winning any fashion awards before they put you in jail" she snarked before charging him again. Spider-Man dodged several lightning quick jabs then parried a roundhouse kick with his arm before trying to knock the wind out of her with a haymaker to the stomach. She caught his hand and the only warning he got was a brief ripple of Spider Sense before several volts of electricity were pumped into his body. He kneeled on the ground fighting to remain conscious taking a kick to the head that sent him down onto the pavement. "I knew a clown like you was all hot air" she remarked casually as she wiped out a pair of hand cuffs. "Hate to break it to you but I'm only 90% hot air" her foe replied before aiming his wrists at her and pressing down with his middle finger. Sticky strands of thread flew out of a small device located below his wrist, quickly incapacitating the CIA agent. "The remaining 10% is web fluid, helps me get the jump on chumps like you Ms. Bouffant" he said pulling her bound form into a standing position. The webbing encased her from head to foot like an embalmed mummy, she struggled as hard as she could but even her famous tech suit wouldn't let her wriggle out of this one. "So do you have the name of the guy with the evidence to throw me in the slammer or am I going to have to have a friendly chat with our local DA?" he asked tilting her back and forth.

"How about if you forget those two bozos and chat with me instead" a very familiar voice called out. His Spider Sense warned him of the bullets headed straight for him; there was nothing he could do to stop the shurikens from cutting the agent free of the web silk. Back flipping several times to avoid the volley of metal he stopped to a crouch knowing full well this battle just got considerably tougher "Nice to see you too Wade." The mercenary didn't answer; he was too busy checking out the cleavage on "Well, well, what have we here" he muttered happily "I wasn't aware they had a Playboy branch of the CIA. Seems like our letters to our congressmen finally paid big dividends." He giggled like a school girl slowly leaning forward, hands ready to initiate Operation Booby Grope when grabbed him and twisted him so hard his arm snapped like a twig. "Who the hell are you" she asked her voice low and dangerous which only turned the mysterious man on even more. "The name's Deadpool Ms. Jubilees" he said not taking his eyes off her sizeable bust even if he had to twist about even more to get a good look "The CIA is paying me a mint to help you poor saps capture Spider-Man though I'd gladly trade in my tokens for a night out with you."

"Can someone confirm that" she asked touching her Bluetooth in order to speak to chopper pilots hovering above her. It a minute for them to respond "Uh…yeah…affirmative Ms. Jubi-…er…Ms. Viper, he's on our side alright" the captain stuttered out in awe at the red clad man who had attempted the inspiring feat of groping the formidable . Painfully she twisted the mercenary about cracking a few more bones before releasing him a few feet away from her "If you get in my way don't expect any mercy" she warned him. "I love it when you whisper sweet nothing into my ear" Deadpool replied breathlessly drawing his guns "I know we have to take him alive but can we damage him a bit first? This guy has always been getting under my skin, ripping off my look for kicks too." "I can handle some goons and a Black Widow but Deadpool? Even I'm that not confident in my abilities" Spider-Man muttered raising a hand and latching a web strand to the next building "Later suckers." He jumped up ready to swing to safety but Deadpool was too quick for him. He shot the web thread stopping Spider-Man from getting away following it up with several more bullets that sliced cleanly through the web whenever the hero tried to attach to a second building.

Defeated in his attempts to run away Spider- Man ran forward "Don't you have some drunken babe to feel up Wade?" With a roundhouse he sent flying back several feet while he and the merc danced about trying to obtain the advantage. Several of Spider-Man's punches socked Deadpool in the head stunning him long enough for the arachnid to kick one of the guns out of the antihero's arms and off the roof. "Precious Lefty" the merc cried "You'll pay for that, PG-me!" The Weapon X experiment fought back with a pistol whip to the chest which sent the wall crawler back a few inches. was waiting for him with a battery of punches that shook him from coccyx to brain stem before she kicked him back to Deadpool. The merc floored him with a punch to the face hoping to end this quickly by tossing a bolo at him but the arachnid was far from beat. Rolling away from the bolo he shot both web shooters at tying her feet together sending her to the floor. He then lifted her figure up by the strings attempting to throw her but Deadpool caught her before she could hit the ground. "Now, now Webs, that's not how you treat a lady" the antihero chastised setting the redhead down twirling his single remaining gun inwarning in case Spider-Man tried to escape again."By the way, how's the wife? Oh wait, didn't you guys sell your marriage to the devil for no good reason? Admit it man you suck with the ladies." Spider-Man just tilted his head quizzically "My wife is sleeping peacefully in bed, what the hell are you talking about and why are you stalking me?"

"Thank goodness, I fully support making as much love to as many women as possible but you guys had something special" he turns to you "I hated that arc." Turning back to Spider-Man he pointed to the agent struggling behind him "Bootlicious' agency hired me to work with her to bring you in. You've been a bad, bad boy Spidey." "Come on Deadpool, you know I wouldn't lead a zombie invasion." Spider-Man snapped. The mercenary merely shrugged "I don't know Spidey, I've seen some pretty weird crap in my life. According to the evidence J. Jonah Jameson asked the DA to bring you in because he's got proof that you started the zombie invasion. You pulling out necromancy out of your ass wouldn't even rank in the top fifty. Besides even if you didn't my employers are paying me a mint to bring you in. A mercenary has to eat, you know….and have a roof over their head…and buy videogames…don't even get me started on how much you need to entertain real high class ass like that agent over there. Speaking of ass-"with a fluid wave he tossed a group of shuriken at the trapped agent cutting her loose from the webbing "I'm expecting plenty of it for saving yours" he crowed.

"When they said back up I was expecting someone sane" groused brushing away strands of silk from her suit. With a leap and a bound the mercenary was next to her invading her personal space while giving her his best version of bedroom eyes. "The name's Wilson, Wade Wilson, a.k.a Deadpool a.k.a heaven's gift to womankind. Feel free to weigh or measure cause I sure won't fall short." With that delightful tidbit he thrust his crotch in front of which she promptly ignored choosing instead to stare at Spider-Man "I suggest giving up now." The lower of his mask curled up indicating he was smirking at them "I'll be sporting and give you the same offer, your 'friend' looks like he'd like a little alone time." Deadpool waggled his finger in Spidey's direction "You're just jealous cause you're not getting any but I'm a generous guy, you can watch if you want no charge."

This earned him a spine snapping punch to the face which sent him to the ground "I'm done with this comedy." Activating her rocket boots she flung herself at the wall crawler who merely sidestepped her tackle as well as the accompanying upside down handstand roundhouse kick she launched as she landed. Bouncing up into the air Spider Man shot a thread of web at a nearby building choosing flight instead of fight. He was at the height of his jump when a bullet sliced through his webbing with pinpoint accuracy. A flurry of wrist snaps to connect more webbing was countered by more bullets; Deadpool had gotten back up dual wielding both of his pistols with exaggerated swagger. "Rule one of scoring bro, being a coward is never sexy" he lectured drawing one of his katanas charging into the fray with .

Spider Sense flaring like crazy the hero was put completely on the defensive as he dodged alternating kicks, punches, swords, and bolos without so much as a second's pause between the two of them. Grimacing he hunkered down taking a kick to the abdomen that would hurt in the morning but 's position prevented Deadpool from attacking him giving him just enough time to web the both of them together with a strand. The mercenary cut through the strand with ease but Spider-Man had already vaulted away swinging away from the roof. "Milady" Deadpool said offering his hand which the CIA agent ignored choosing to blast forward using her rocket boots to pursue. "Follow that leather clad ass then" he reasoned with a perverted smirk activating his warp belt. He reappeared in front of the hero severing his web again forcing Spider-Man to attach to a building to avoid plummeting onto the street. With a grunt he jumped onto a nearby chimney aware that was bearing down on him from above.

Somersaulting high then low he dodged a one-two leg sweep from the woman dancing about the narrow edge to deliver a small kick to her back that tossed her off the structure. Digging her hands into the pavement angled herself so she landed on a window sill growling as the wall crawler vaulted away. Bounding up the wall she parkoured her way back onto the roof tops her target jumping about New York structures serpentine style to try and shake her off. Giving a quick glance about she did not spy Deadpool around her, not that she minded in the slightest. Pushing the suit to its maximum she was soon neck and neck with the hero as they sailed about New York. A few lucky passerby's looked up into the night sky watching a shadowy pair push the human body to the limits illumined by the cold, white moon.

With a master hand Spider-Man crafted one of his explosive web balls, a favorite technique of his that encased his enemies in the stuff that immobilized them completely. "Heads up" he shouted tossing the ball with a precise toss fully expecting his old trick to work perfectly. Unfortunately for him had learned to respect the web, without missing a beat she stomped her foot down blasting part of the concrete she was racing up with sending shards of rubble into the air. This shield clashed with the web ball activating its explosive mass. The rubble was wrapped up into a perfect little cocoon that fell to the ground with a squishy bounce leaving unharmed. In retaliation she pressed a button on her glasses shooting a small red beam at the back of Spider-Man's hand destroying his left web shooter. Wincing from the heat of the sizzling plastic he tore it off his wrist frustrated at the new handicap.

Beginning to lose patience with his pursuer the spider themed hero cleared the roof of the building spinning from right hand to left preparing to strike. The minute the agent's red hair peeked into view he struck, kicking her on the thigh leaving her fighting to steady herself on the edge if the roof. With blind instinct she launched a few desperation fire kicks trying to force him on the back foot but he was well prepared for anything she threw at him. Twirling from one handstand to the next he snaked his way about her kicks smirking as she over extended herself slightly. He capitalized on it by righting himself and sucker punching her in the abdomen sending her off the roof again. There were no convenient hand holds for her to grab onto this time leaving to tumble helplessly end over end from fifty stories up.

Rushing up to the edge Spider-Man prepped his remaining web shooter to catch the agent but before he could save her a bolo came out of nowhere wrapping him tightly. "Sission Muccessful, son!" Deadpool cried landing down on the roof "Who's da boss?!" The mercenary looked about "Where's my honey buns?" Struggling Spider-Man cried out "She's about to go splat you idiot! That side of the roof!" Giving a theatrical gasp Deadpool ran over to the edge spying the doomed CIA agent "Don't you worry; me and my sweet ass are on the way!" Tapping the button on his belt the mercenary was away with a zap leaving the webhead alone to try and wiggle out of the bonds.

wasn't sure how long she had been falling for, probably a few seconds but it's difficult to tell in free fall. Churning wildly the agent's mind tried to figure out a way out of this predicament running gravity force equations, Oreme's mean speed theory, anything and everything to try and calculate that last second to boost her boot jets to turn immediate death into broken legs but alive. Hovering somewhere between ten and five stories from the ground her mental mathematics were mercifully interrupted by a bzzt of red and black. A second such bzzt robbed her of all feeling for a dizzying second before a small impact jolted her out of her near death induced reverie. "Hey, look at that I saved you." Deadpool said waggling his eyebrows suggestively "How about a little sugar, sweet bottom?" Possessively he grabbed 's ass putting him in heaven for one sweet second before a fist collided with his face knocking him down.

Picking herself up knelt down picking up the hapless mercenary by the scruff of his collar "If you ever do that again I will destroy you." Deadpool nodded vigorously before raising a finger up pointing to something behind them. Tossing him to the ground turned just in time to see her target clear the next roof. His arms were still bound tightly in the bolo; he had to hop to get away his entire body stiff as a board. "C'mon" snarled racing after him with the mercenary in tow still secretly checking out her butt. 'Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap' Spiderman thought hopping as fast as he could knowing full well that was gaining on him. Twisting about he rolled away from the agent's grasp tripping her with a leg sweep watching gleefully as Deadpool tripped over her too. Rolling back over he perched his bound body on top of Deadpool's grasping one of his katanas. "In my dreams it's Spider-Woman not Spider-Man" the squashed mercenary wailed.

With one sweep the web head cut through the bolo nicking Deadpool's back as well. Jumping up he unloaded the rest of his right web shooter tying the pair onto the ground. "I have to admit" the hero said panting hard "There haven't been a lot of guys who have managed to push me this hard in years." Straightening up he muttered under his breath "Note to self, tell MJ to start buying diet soda instead." With a huff he sped into the night leaving the pair to struggle under the silk or…to be perfectly honest only tried to get out. Deadpool repressed a sigh as he felt the sexy agent's rubbing up against him. It took a second but figured it out "I am this close to charbroiling you with my rockets. Get us out of here." Resisting a perverted come back Deadpool felt around in the mass of white "Don't you worry one teleport in three…two…one!" He tapped the button on his belt expecting a bzzt but instead he got garbled static. "Oh shit" was all he managed to get out before the belt overloaded backfiring nastily. Twitching violently as massive amounts of volts went flowing through him Deadpool gave a cough before passing out. Luckily for her tech suit stopped her from getting shocked absorbing the electricity but she was still stuck in the webbing. Not wanting to create a pyre with her rocket boots the CIA agent pragmatically chose to flip around so that the back of the mercenary's head was in her direct field of vision. Wriggling her wrist between her chest and Deadpool's back she grabbed his spare katana slowly maneuvering it till she managed to pierce the cocoon. She sawed her way through pushing her ally off of her "If you think you're getting away…" she growled, grabbing the merc's leg and dragging him along behind her. Hyper vigilant she swiveled her head left to right fishing for a miracle, she got one.

Spider-Man had been forced to leap his way from building to building now that his web shooters were defunct. This had slowed his pace just enough for a determined to regain her sights on her target. The little neon orange target lit up illuminating the wall crawler "Got you" muttered jumping up with Deadpool in tow. With a grunt she tossed his limp body forward at her target sending both of them sprawling on the ground. The impact roused the mercenary from his unconscious state "Cable bro, fill me in on what happened at the party, got a hang over the size of Mt Kilimanjaro." He whined getting up jerkily before spotting Spider Man "You ain't Cable" he accused punching the wall crawler "What the hell is going on?" He glimpsed at "Dat ass…it's all coming back to me."

skipped kicking Deadpool's ass for that last remark, she was far too busy kicking Spider-Man's. The wall crawler barely had time to get up before he was assaulted by a flurry of punches and kicks. Put on the back foot there was little he could do for the time being aside from raising both arms in front of his face to protect it. Smirking gabbed the hero kneeing him in the gut before tossing him at Deadpool The red clad merc was ready with kick of his own right into Spider Man's back sending him back to the ground then pulled a gun out pointing it at the downed hero "OTG!" he shouted about to squeeze the trigger but the tip of C,Viper's boot knocked it out of his hand. "We're supposed to bring him alive" she shouted flipping behind Spider-Man, attempting to get up off the ground, shocking him with her electrical gauntlet.

The hero grit his teeth as the electricity coursed through his body fighting the urge to black out choosing instead to elbow the agent in her abdomen making her lose her grip on him entirely. Painfully he pushed himself forward dancing sloppily around Deadpool's punch slamming the mercenary with a shoulder charge which sent him rolling backwards towards . They stood there for a minute waiting for Deadpool to get up then to see who would attack first. Gasping for breath Spider-Man went over his options which were being minimized with each exchange of blows. 'Web shooters, gone, pursuers uninjured, and stamina's dangerously low' he thought grimacing. 'Escape is still possible but damn if they aren't tenacious. Still…facing them head on would be an uphill battle in and of itself, Deadpool alone would be trouble but that agent working with him is no slouch. If I could take out one of them I might have a chance. I can't believe it's come to this but I'm beginning to regret smashing that Avenger's card that was in my costume this morning."

This last thought was still fresh in Spider-Man's head when his adversaries attacked him; they zigzagged on approach making their first attack unpredictable. With a quick draw Deadpool shot his guns at the hero's feet missing them completely but getting the reflexive half step he was hoping for. While distracted with the gun play had attacked high using a mini jet boost to gain some height. She rammed him right in the chest returning him to the ground but she wasn't finished with him yet. Pressuring his chest with one foot she planted the other behind her slightly beside her adversary's right thigh before activating one of her jets. Like a motor boat she powered forward on the chest of Spider-Man at a high speed. The punishing attack tore Spider-Man's back to bloody shreds, superficial wounds to be sure but extremely painful nonetheless. After about thirty seconds of this she was forced to bail due to the encroaching edge of the roof, luckily for Spider-Man he managed to stop himself about five inches from it.

Bounding up to his partner Deadpool poked the body a few times with his finger "I thought you said no killing." Spurred on by this Spider-Man kneed Deadpool in the mouth then escaping by slipping off the building. He crawled his way over to the side as fast as he could in serious pain the entire time. Groaning he leapt to the next building before circling it and hopping to the next. Behind him he heard the sharp tap, tap, tapping of 's boots on the roofs behind him gaining with each step yet deprived of an angle from which she could attack from. His Spider Sense warned him of Deadpool's surprise attack, a sudden mid air teleport where the merc slung a flash bang grenade into his prey's face, allowing him to cover his vision just fast enough to avoid losing his eyesight. A second tingle let him dodge the accompanying aerial tackle opening up the way forward for him to continue his ragged escape through the skyscrapers. Cursing loudly, the merc activated his belt once again, saving himself from becoming street pizza. He reappeared next to his partner and continued his pursuit of the wall crawler with his eyes fashioned on her ass.

He managed to evade them for fifteen minutes thanks to his Spider Sense yet was unable to duck out of their eyesight long enough to give them the slip. Pulse pounding like a jack hammer Spidey was being worn down little by little, if Deadpool didn't get him then time would sap the little stamina he had left. The hero knew that anymore of this was going to futile so that left two options either fight or surrender. Neither appealed to him at all, the pursuing pair had him locked down and if he didn't have any energy to run he didn't have energy to fight. On the other hand JJ would his mortgage his entire media empire away gleefully if it meant putting him in the slammer. Money had no meaning to JJ, he would get the best lawyers, bribe the jury, and his hatred was so great the webhead wouldn't have been surprised if he bought the entire Supreme Court in his drive to put him in chains.

Rounding the next corner he came face to face with a bad situation, Times Square. He had crawled out onto the wall of a skyscraper positioned in the middle of the square; the other side was way too far away to jump to and crawling with pedestrians. Another warning ripple caused him to hop over to the next building to his right as Deadpool came swooping down from above katanas slicing the air about him. Having learned from the past few attempts the merc caught himself on a billboard using a small aerial somersault to land on the edge of it a few feet below Spider Man. "Just cause I can't decapitate you doesn't mean I can't hack off an arm or a leg" Deadpool pointed out pointing one of his katanas at the hero "Besides I like to think your foot would be a great conversational piece hanging above my mantle." Quirking an eyebrow Spider-Man slowly began to crawl sideways making sure Deadpool never left his sight.

"You have a mantle?" the webhead asked buying time "You seem more like the kinda guy with a singles pad equipped with a water bed and a stripper's pole in the living room." Deadpool swished his hand back and forth dismissively "Been there, done that. Those apartments can be really difficult to unload plus a pain to clean, good luck getting the maid to clean the stripper pole. No, now I have this really sweet pad in the suburbs with pool and a fireplace and my lawn." He gripped his head and sighed fangirlishly "My lawn is the best. No really it's the best. The neighborhood I live in runs this whole best lawn event year after year and guess who's won the blue ribbon for four years running. This guy, that's who, feel the jealousy Webs, feel the jealousy." Twirling his guns about the merc aimed at Spidey tripping the Spider Sense, he was shooting to kill.

He tensed ready to jump up when something pounded him from the back, . The thing with Spider Sense is that it could only warn the hero of impending danger but not how many impending dangers. When Deadpool shot to kill he masked the fact that was descending from above with a dropkick, a genius plan that had taken advantage of Spider-Man's overreliance on his sixth sense. The hero hit the concrete hard between a mass of people on the side walk causing a panic. Amid the confusion the CIA agent landed beside the hero whipping out a pair of handcuffs "Spider-Man I place you under arrest." The agent declared before going through his Miranda rights. By the end of them she had been joined by Deadpool as well as a giant pool of people surrounding the trio in a circle of humanity. "Holy cow! That hot chick arrested Spider-Man" someone cried out "I'm not sure how I feel about that." The crowd descended into a mass of mumbling miscellaneous chattering witheveryone trying to come up with a consensus to how they felt about the event unfolding in front of them.

"Idiots" someone called out "Spider-Man is a hero" The crowd chewed on this for a while giving Spidey a glimmer of hope that he might be saved by the masses. "Hell no, Spider-Man is a menace" someone argued back "Jay Jonah Jameson say the guy's a monster and who are we to dispute the man? Besides I lost my home to that freak's last battle with the Green Goblin. If you had never been around I wouldn't be shacking up with my parents." His raw throated roar ripped through the crowd energizing them more and more by the second. "Yeah, that creep nearly killed me during that subway battle with the Lizard." "My car got squished by him, I was about to pay it off too." "My son had to go to the hospital when he tried to web swing from a bookcase; he wants to be just like that menace."

Spider-Man sighed 'I should known better' as his hands were cuffed. Deadpool helped pull him up winking at "Mission accomplished babe!" The CIA agent ignored him as she whipped out her cell phone " here, target has been apprehended" she listened for a tick as her superior rattled off orders "Understood; we'll be there in ten minutes." Slamming it shut the agent turned to Deadpool "Headquarters has asked us to escort him to the police station in this district; they'll send a convoy to take him to the courthouse jail. Apparently his trial has been pushed to tomorrow morning." "The right to a speedy trial huh, conveniently quick if you ask me" Spider-Man grumbled as he was pushed forward. "It's my job" answered him nonchalantly "Instead of complaining about it to me you should think about whom you should hire to defend you in court."

Pushing their way through the crowd surrounding them the pair escorted him unmolested to the nearest police station where a heavily armed convoy was ready and waiting to take him to prison. In a last ditch attempt to avoid the paddy wagon Spider-Man tried to wrench the cuffs apart using his super strength only to find them quite capable of keeping him contained. "Special alloy cuffs made to contain super heroes" Deadpool pointed out handing him over to the army of SWAT members on hand "Courtesy of Stark Industries." The doors slammed shut leaving the agent and the merc alone with a few meandering policemen gossiping about how they felt about the matter. Swiveling to face her Deadpool crossed his arms "So, wanna do dinner or coffee or a movie or do you want to screw all this foreplay and just hop-"a glare froze him in his tracks. "Drop dead" she told him as she brushed past planning on returning to headquarters but the man was undeterred by the cold shoulder. "I seem to remember saving your life, doesn't that count for something?" he hopped along beside her making his points with comically exaggerated hand gestures "I know this great little Italian place nearby that serves cannoli that'll blow your mind from how good it is before you kill yourself knowing your taste buds will never be privy to eating anything like it again." No reply from , not even the smallest of lip upturns to encourage him on.

Risking his balls he slid in front of her placing both hands onto her shoulders "This is the part where you the pretty heroine says yes to the incredibly sexy protagonist who's also a god in bed." She stopped piercing him with her signature death gaze that promised emasculation in less than ten seconds if he didn't release her forcing him to resort to the worst way to ask a girl out, begging. Throwing himself down on his hands and knees he looked up at her with a pitiable gaze 'Please, please, please, go out with me. I won't even bring up sex at all." He groveled before her causing a scene which drew the eyes of pedestrians, checked phone for messages from head quarters. "Stand up" she ordered him causing him to leap up the joy emanating from his masked face "But this is not a date and if you so much say anything that could be construed as innuendo I will personally see to it you will never have children." "I'll be as prudish as a Puritan." He pledged offering his arm in a gentlemanly fashion "Shall we be off then milady?" Tentatively accepting his arm let him lead her about the town regaling her with some funny stories of his adventures with his bestest bro Cable. She politely smiled at them but as far as was concerned nothing Deadpool could say, do, or produce that could possibly spur her on romantically. Deadpool was a man-child perpetually stuck at sixteen years of his life, even having only known him for the past two hours she could read him like a book. She was a mature woman working hard to support her daughter; she didn't have the time or energy to play booty call with the guy. Still she was hungry and did love cannoli, she could bear another hour and a half or so of this rambling psycho since he was paying,

Deadpool made good on how delicious the food was, greatly enjoyed her parmesan chicken and spaghetti with alfredo sauce. The cannoli were indeed to die for forcing her to jot down the restaurant's name and location discreetly so she could return to it later, perhaps with Lauren. From appetizers to desserts Deadpool continued to invoke the sexy class clown persona pulling every juvenile stunt in the book from spewing milk from his nose to doing the whole chopsticks in your nostrils bit but with forks instead of chopsticks. It was while was finishing her last her last cannoli watching Deadpool try to pull one of the forks out of his nostrils, their waiter stood above him frowning at the man's behavior, her phone rang, a quick check of the caller I.D confirmed it was headquarters, and a bad feeling snaked it's way though her gut.

"Viper, it's HQ" one of her superiors barked "Get back here pronto, we've been infiltrated and they got the angel." "On my way" she replied completely calm standing up abruptly. "Woah, babe where you going?" the merc asked jumping up to his feat as well the metallic utensil hanging out of his nostril. Annoyed by its presence she ripped it out of his nostril "HQ called, I gotta go, thanks for the meal." She exited quickly granting Deadpool one last glimpse of her very fine ass before it disappeared into the swarm of ever present New Yorkers. Defeated he slumped back into his seat "Didn't even get her number" he moaned before a thought caused him to jerk up "She used me to get a free meal, she ditched me with the check."

He slumped down in his seat depressed at his lot in life for a brief second swirling the wine in his glass. Then a beautiful blond waitress passed where he was sulking waiting on another table. The elderly couple she was waiting on spoke in low soft tones forcing her to lean forward giving the merc a gorgeous view of her enviable tuckus. 'C who?' he thought goofily stroking his wine glass with a simmering smile on his face. As she passed he grabbed her attention with a hand wave "Excuse me beautiful" he asked suavely "I can't seem to find my waiter anywhere, would you mind looking after me instead?"

While Deadpool was working out his thirty second rebound was dashing through the crowds weaving around them with experienced ease. Her phone rang in her pocket alerting her to a second call forcing her to fumble for a second as she ducked into a slightly less crowded side street which allowed her to jet up onto the roof tops. Bringing the phone up to her ear her superiors gave her the rundown on what was happening at the HQ. With each step her eyebrows raised higher and higher, the story her superiors were telling her seemed unbelievable especially when one considered this was happening inside a CIA building. 'Why do the ends I always leave hanging seem to come back and bite me in the ass?" she thought annoyed at the whole situation. Midnight had come and gone, leaving the moon on the descending path to the horizon.

Spider-Man's problems were just beginning, Deadpool had been right on about the cuffs as no matter how he twisted and turned not a single chain weakened even the slightest bit. How in the world was he gonna hire a lawyer? No doubt they would want to know who the man behind mask was in order to defend him. That sticky situation aside he was going to have to get someone to hire a lawyer for him; the question was who he was going to call. The only person who knew he was Spider-Man was the Avengers and his wife Mary Jane. The Avengers had been splintered thanks to Civil War leaving Spider Man on the anti registration side with Captain America. Tony Stark, their former companion, had headed the pro registration side hence the hand cuffs binding his arms. With Captain America dead the imprisoned super hero didn't have anyone else's number memorized.

That left MJ who would not call no matter what; as long as he was masked he would in no way possible draw a connection between his wife and Spider-Man. There were too many villains lurking about who would love to pay back former incarcerations at his hands by going after his wife. That left one number open to him, it was listed in every phone book from here to Beijing. Silently cursing whatever deity had deemed it fit to throw him into prison Spider-Man rode the rest of the way to wherever he was being detained savoring each moment before he had to make his free call. Eventually the van came to stutter stop igniting the start of the pomp and circumstance of escorting a high profile criminal to jail. The van seemed to burst forth with heavily armed guards swarming about in controlled chaos.

Lining a narrow path up to the courthouse every single guard was focused solely on the success of this mission giving the atmosphere a charged feel. Spider-Man was lead into the building then booked putting his unique name into the system. The night staff in the courthouse had a shocked look on their face, no doubt the graveyard shift was fairly tame on the best of the days. They offered him an eye piercing jump suit that he refused and a first aid kit for his back which he accepted. A matron cleaned and gauzed the wounds on his back courtesy of the CIA agent who had brought him in, Spider-Man kept a powerful grip on his mask lest she wanted to do the honors of ousting his identity to the whole world. Then it happened, "You are entitled to one free phone call" the officer droned having done this countless times "Would you like to use it now?" Gritting his teeth Spider-Man nodded before being led to an isolated little area with an old fashioned pay phone attached to the wall.

They hadn't taken off the cuffs on him since he had arrived and even now they chose to buck protocol and have the officer dial for him as well as put the receiver to his ear. "What's the number" the officer asked placing his meaty palm on the phone. "Stark Industries" he instructed the cop trying not retch, Tony would no doubt hold this over him but he didn't have any other options. Without even needing to check the yellow pages the cop dialed the business, each button beeping in confirmation to his input. Holding the phone up to his ear the police man failed to notice the hero's hands ball into fists. "Hello, this is Stark Industries" a voice cheerfully informed him "How can I help you?" "I'd like to speak with Mr. Tony Stark, this is Spider-Man" he growled feeling defeated. The person on the line didn't reply choosing instead to patch him directly to the CEO himself.

It took a second before Tony got on the line "Parker" Tony asked the sleep on his voice evident, it soothed Spidey's nerves slightly to know that Stark hadn't been waiting near the phone knowing the hero was going to call him from the slammer. "Hi Stark" he said into the phone wrestling with his words as well as the shame "I'm…um…in the slammer." There was an abnormally long silence "Prison, you?" Tony replied sounding puzzled "Why the hell are you calling me? Last time I checked we weren't really on speaking terms." "I don't remember anyone else's phone number" Spider-Man explained to him "I need a lawyer and a good one at that." "What the hell did you do Parker" Tony asked "and how the hell did they manage to catch you?" "My biggest fan apparently managed to doctor some photos that incriminate me with starting this whole zombie invasion thing" he explained "The folks in the justice department thought this was legit enough to warrant my arrest."

"So they send Deadpool and some CIA variant of Black Widow down to kick my ass up and down main street" Spidey said while briefly debating whether to grouse about the fact it was Stark technology that was keeping him here but decided to hold his tongue in the interest of not blowing off his possible benefactor. "Alright kid, alright" Tony replied yawning "When's the trial?" "Tomorrow" Spidey said getting a grunt of interest from Stark on the other line. "JJ's really gunning for you this time huh" Tony commented "I'll have a great lawyer for you in the courtroom bright and early, I'll come too for moral support." Spider-Man's eyes widened surprised at the nonexistent sarcasm that should have been coating Stark's voice, the man was almost genial. "Thanks, I really appreciate it" he said, perhaps the fact he was calling so early in the morning was why the typical wiseass in Tony's voice was not there. "I'll alert MJ too" Tony assured him "Get a decent amount of sleep tonight Parker; we need you fresh and friendly in the morning."

After the surprisingly not cringe worthy call Spider-men signaled to his guard he was done. He was then led into one of the few cells in the courthouse which was sparsely furnished with a small cot and an adjoining toilet. The cell door was locked behind him as an entire platoon of guards stood between his cell door and the door leading out into the hallway. Silently Spider-Man laid down his cot certain the any amount of rest he was going to get would be sparse and shallow.

A/N: I'd like to give a shout out to everyone who has submitted a review to this story. It's your encouragement that keeps me going.


	8. Jail Break

Chapter 8: Jail Break

It had taken Chris and Rocket Raccoon all day to track down the government agents. By the time night had fallen the pair had tramped their way across the city occasionally forced to meander a bit when Rocket Raccoon lost the scent. As the moon began its ascent into the pitch black sky Rocket Raccoon suddenly perked upright from his position sniffing around on the ground "It got a whole lot stronger" he commented "We're getting close." Chris frowned, looking around at the buildings, they had left downtown proper and were currently standing around in a rundown neighborhood that existed on the fringes of the city. It wasn't quite a ghetto yet but it had certainly seen better days, perhaps it had been lively in the eighties. The street itself was fairly deserted of pedestrians which factored heavily in favor of their rescue mission, the less people the better as far as Chris was concerned.

While the man ruminated on what kind of resistance they would be going up against Rocket Raccoon was currently circling around the high rises around them trying to pinpoint which one the agents had entered. After a few minutes he stood back up crossing his arms "Bugger, the sodders must be concentrated here, their scent's all over this place." He gestured to the five apartments on the block "I think one of these rises is their base of operations." Chris nodded "Guess there's nothing left to do except search each of them one by one." He took a step forward only to have the Raccoon block his path "Whoa there mate, ya ain't got a weapon, do ya? I don't imagine these blokes will send for fish and chips when they spot us bustin in their base, eh?" He cocked his pistol with a cocky smile "I'll lead this dance for now mate. I'll just take the ole look around and be back before you can say hooroo."

Rocket Raccoon skittered over to a nearby window trying to take a peek inside. If it weren't for his nose he never would have guessed any kind of government would have stashed someone here. Most of the window was grimy with a mixture of dirt and cobwebs while what little could be seen didn't fare much better. Even with his fantastic eyesight Rocket Raccoon could barely see anything in the room save for a cement floor strewn with trash, rat shit, and assorted dirt. Waiting for a few minutes to see if there was anyone in the room he used his laser knife to cut a hole in the glass large enough for him to climb through. Summoning Chris with a silent hand wave he gestured for him to boost him though as carefully as he could. Without cutting his sides on the glass the anthropomorphic animal dropped into the room as silent as a cat. He gestured for Chris to return to his spot on the street before heading in deeper.

Every step he took kicked up dust which was hell on earth for his nose 'Sodding planet' he thought crossly as he picked his way over the rubble. After examining every inch of the building he was frustrated to find nothing to prove that anyone had been there recently. The next building also proved to be as derelict as the first leading Rocket Raccoon to begin to doubt his senses, it didn't help that he was sneezing every five seconds from the dusty atmosphere. Luckily he struck gold in the third house which was situated in the center of the street. While it too was as run down as the previous ones the Guardian of the Galaxy member found a large trail of disturbed dust that led into the kitchen. 'Bingo' he thought with a grin before sneezing again 'I swear if there's more any more dust in these blokes base I'll blow this hellhole down, angel or no.' Carefully he tiptoed into the kitchen catching sight of a lone figure hunched over a surprisingly clean table.

The goon in a nice suit was playing solitaire on the table a small lamp lighting the area around him. His back was turned to Rocket Raccoon making him a sitting duck to a stun shot which would leave him splayed on the table for eighteen hours at least. Furtively the creature searched about the room positive the man was guarding a secret of some kind. 'Bingo' he thought smirking; behind the fridge was some kind of button that looked extremely out of place in comparison with the rest of the building. Grabbing the gun from the unconscious guard's holster he ran back to the street where Chris was waiting. "This way" he called "Found something weird." When Chris stepped into the building the creature tossed him the gun "Hope you know how to use that big guy, don't make me think less of you." Ignoring the jab Chris examined the weapon; it was a full loaded Red9. While he preferred the heavy stuff Chris was more than happy to be rearmed again.

As he followed Rocket Raccoon into the kitchen he swiped another box of pistol ammo from the guard before taking notice of the fridge. It was a hulking old piece straight from the seventies; neither Rocket Raccoon nor Chris wanted to see what might be inside. "There's a button of some sort tucked back behind this behemoth" the raccoon explained "Use those freakish muscles of yours to good effect." The B.S.A.A member merely rolled his eyes before pushing the fridge aside effortlessly revealing the black button. It looked like an elevator of some kind prompting Rocket Raccoon to push it curiously. The floor rocked slightly before the area around the pair began to mechanically sink into the floor. "A hidden elevator" Rocket Raccoon commented as they descended "classy and clichéd." The shaft they descended was built entirely out of metal with blinking light lining the four corners. "They have a base here" Chris asked aloud "Is this where all our tax dollars go to?"

The elevator stopped in small room with a door to the north that led into a literal labyrinth of tunnels lit only by the fluorescent lights that ran the length of the ceiling. "This way and try to be as quiet as you can, I hear quite a few blokes creeping about the corridor." They took about two steps before Rocket Raccoon whipped around putting a claw to his lips "What part of quiet don't you sodding understand?" "I am being quiet" Chris insisted "No you're bloody not" Rocket Raccoon snapped back "For the love of the stars do you work in construction or some job where you stomp around like an ogre?" Chris frowned "I fight zombies and I've managed to sneak up on the majority of them." "Must have been bloody deaf zombies then" Rocket Raccoon snapped back "If you're coming along you'll be taking off your shoes. The floor's clean as a whistle and your socks might be able to muffle those Godzilla steps of yours."

Grudgingly Chris followed orders shedding his shoes tucking them under one arm then following Rocket Raccoon in his white socks. If the creature's ignorance was any sign his steps had reached a tolerable level of noise which would soon turn out to be invaluable. Taking the right most path the pair turned around several corners before sighting the first few guards patrolling the base. The men were awake but not terribly alert, their fire arms lay limply at their sides a sure sign they were not expecting trouble that night. Unfortunately for Rocket Raccoon and Chris the men were situated in a big room that connected the hallway they were in to an eastern and northern hallway with no way to maneuver around them. Retreating back into their tunnel the pair hustled for a moment "Damn, this will be messy if we attack head on" Chris muttered looking at his gun "I don't want to take lives if I don't have to." Rocket Raccoon looked at him critically for a second before looking away "I don't care much for murdering either mate, let's head back and look for another way."

They retraced their steps to the elevator before ducking into the rightmost tunnel. They got lucky this time; a single guard was sitting in the room symmetrical to the other one with tunnels heading west and north. Effortlessly Rocket Raccoon shot off a second stun bolt nailing him in the center of his chest. The guard fell down without a noise save for his body smacking the floor below him. Chris relieved him of his weapon, an M16, as well as two boxes of ammo before putting the guard into a corner of the dimly lit southern tunnel. "West or North" Chris asked returning to the room only to get a 'hrrrmph' from Rocket Raccoon. "They must have transported her around the base; I can smell a trail from both ends. Logically the western tunnel leads back to those chuckleheads from back there so I recommend we head north." The pair progressed further more as the northern tunnel lead into a very open corridor that was crammed with corridors.

Rocket Raccoon paused before pointing to three of the corridors, clueing Chris in. Apparently she had been led or carried through a multitude of rooms for some unknown reason; the three the creature was pointing at were the three that contained her scent. The B.S.A.A member shrugged his shoulders offering the decision to Rocket Raccoon who crept down the farthest one. It was a very short one that led to a door, after putting his ear up to the door crack Rocket Raccoon gave Chris a thumb up. Behind the door was a fully equipped surgeon's table causing Chris' eyes to narrow suspiciously. "You don't think they…" he trailed off letting the raccoon sniff around the legs of the table praying he was wrong. "No skullduggery here mate" the animal said standing back up onto his feet "She was on here but they didn't carve her open, can't smell no blood and there were no chemicals used to clean it up if there was." Sighing in relief the pair searched the room for clues; the cabinets lining the walls of the room were of particular interest to Chris.

'It's possible it could be here but…aha' he thought pulling out some first aid sprays, perfect for anything from an infected scratch to a laceration but no more than that. He pocketed them in his combat vest before turning to Rocket Raccoon "Find anything?" Pulling himself out from under one of the cabinets the creature revealed a small black feather clenched in his grasp. "I ain't the most knowledgeable of blokes when it comes to Earthling lore" he admitted twirling it between two of his claws "But if I ain't mistaken your precious angels typically have white wings, no?" Chris shrugged "I guess but I've never seen an angel before, who's to say they have black wings?" Rocket Raccoon handed it to Chris who pocketed it idly as the pair headed back down the corridor. The next one also held a door and also some minions inside "I think there are two of them in there" Rocket Raccoon reported looking at Chris "What do you want to do?"

"Let's ambush them" he replied "Finally, a chance for a punch up" his partner replied cracking his knuckles "The old one-two then?" Chris nodded squatting near the door "On my mark." Holding up a hand Chris silently counted down from five using his fingers then smashed the door in with one powerful kick. The guards beyond the door were taken completely by surprise, the nearest one went down with a stun bolt from Rocket Raccoon's gun while Chris floored the nearest one down with a shoulder charge. Before the guard could call out Chris clamped his hand over the man's mouth "Where is the angel" he growled menacingly. The guard just glared at him before attempting to toss the agent off of him only to fail miserably, Chris was just too heavy even for someone as strong as the agent. "Just knock him out mate" Rocket Raccoon advised "I think we can figure out where she is now."

Surrounding the duo was a bevy of computer monitors that revealed whatever the security cameras in the base were looking at. Jumping off the guy Chris gave Rocket Raccoon a perfect shot to stun the agent allowing them to peruse the screens. "Bloody hell, of course this would cover every inch of this blasted place save for where our distressed damsel is." Rocket Raccoon commented as he tapped on the keyboard. "Can we bring up a map of the building" Chris asked examining one of the monitors "We can use the monitors to eliminate which rooms the angel isn't in." A flurry of taps later brought up some blue prints "And there it is" The animal said pointing to the plans "This complex extends at least four blocks in either direction, that's how all those apartments smelled like agents, there are exits that lead into each of them."

While Rocket Raccoon began to mark off which rooms weren't the angel's Chris took the liberty of relieving the two knocked out guards of their ammo, more pistol bullets but one of them had shot gun ammo which worried him. They could hold their own in a moderate gun fight but if someone decided to bring some serious fire power to the party they were in the shitter. As he stored he found an electronic card, most likely used to unlock an important door. 'Maybe this can get us into the angel's room' Chris thought placing it into his pocket. Faint footsteps caused the pair to perk up "Dammit, I'm not done yet" Rocket Raccoon cursed banging on the keyboard "If I let this idle it might shut down." "I've got this" Chris said stalking over to the door. Peeking through it he saw a single guard wandering toward them his two hands preoccupied steaming hot coffee mugs.

'Sorry" he thought apologetically as the man neared 'This is really gonna hurt." Just as the man was about to open the door Chris burst out sending the agent down covered in scalding hot coffee forcing Chris to hustle if he didn't want the entire building to be aware of their presence. With one fluid motion he pistol whipped the guy into unconsciousness straining to hear if he had any comrades lurking further back. No one else came in allowing Chris to rifle through the guard's belongings gaining some more shotgun ammo. After fifteen more minutes Rocket Raccoon gave a victory fist pump "I think I know where their stowing the gal, there's a room just beyond the camera's range and I'll bet you a sodding super nova that's where their keeping her." The pair quickly headed into the hallway taking the last corridor that had her scent in it. At its end was another large door but this time with a window on it. A quick peek through revealed at least fifteen agents lounging inside with their weapon's within reaching distance.

"I guess we could see if those guards in the east wing have left yet" Chris offered causing the creature to shake his head "Ain't no time mate, the longer we wander around here the greater the possibility they'll notice us." He looked around before pointing at the wall; a grated air vent was installed toward the middle of the corridor. "Boost me up ya ogre" he ordered "I'll get past these blokes and find some way to distract them, just stay frosty and wait for me." Chris lifted Rocket Raccoon up to the air vent. He used the small laser blade to cut through the metal like butter allowing access into the small tunnel. It was spacious enough to allow Rocket Raccoon to grab a small penlight from his belt while placing the laser knife back onto his belt. He crawled forward with ease into the ventilation system navigating the twists and turns until he found the other side.

Cutting his way out he hopped into the empty corridor 'I should check to make sure I'm in the right corridor' he thought looking up at the door's window. Frantically he hopped up and down trying to get a glimpse into the window but failed miserably each time. 'Bugger, why do these sodding humans have to be so damn tall' he thought snarling. Rocket Raccoon decided to scout a bit farther down the hall, perhaps something he could use to get the guards out of that room. The hallway emptied into another lounge where a guard paced restlessly around the room while a second one leaned up against the far wall staring into space. 'Crap, I can't take out one without the other seeing me' he thought scanning the area 'with those goons in the back room raising any sort of alarm will be deadly. I gotta take these blokes out one at a time without them noticing me.'

His eyes fell on a nearby cardboard in the left corner of the room 'Well, Earthlings aren't known for their observational skills.' Waiting till the roaming guards back was turned the animal dashed over to the box disappearing under it without a sound. Amused at his antics he carved a small hole to see through before tiptoeing his way up to the roaming guard. Just like he predicted the blooming idiot passed him without a second look not even registering that the box had moved five feet towards him. Once the guard was at the point farthest away from the idle one Rocket Raccoon doffed the box briefly and stunned him in the back. The roaming guard fell with a thud alerting the first one "Ed, Ed, are you ok?" he asked stepping around the random cardboard box "What the hell happened to you?" He bent down to take care of his comrade only to have something hard shoved into his back "Nighty night sodder "

His attacker watched him fall with a cocky little grin before running up to the door at the far end. He pushed it as hard as he could to no avail cursing the Earthlings once more for their penchant for heavy tall doors. Then he spotted the card reader glowing red just above him, the door was locked. Ruffling around in the guards' pockets he came up empty save for some antique ammo which the ogre seemed fond of collecting. Pissed off he stalked over to the second door leading east trying to restrain himself from blasting it open subtlety be damned. Lucky for Chris and the angel the door opened automatically causing Rocket Raccoon to drool at the contents inside. He had stumbled on a small armory filled with a variety Earthling weapons, they were inferior for sure but they got his creative juices flowing. 'Time for a little of the ole RR refashioning' he thought smugly pulling out a small bevy of tools from his belt.

It took about a half hour but eventually Rocket Raccoon was ready with his distraction. With a huff he leapt into the air duct making his way back to a nervous Chris. "What the hell, I thought you might've been captured" Chris accused him but Rocket Raccoon merely waved a paw dismissively. "Keep your bonnet on Betty; I've got the perfect distraction ready and waiting to get us out of this jam." Pulling out a detonator he pressed it without lead up causing a small beeping to emanate from the room he was in previously. "What the hell" one of the guards said as they rushed into the adjacent room guns drawn. Once they all cleared out Rocket Raccoon pushed his way into the room with Chris hot on his heels. "I was under the impression your distraction was more than a simple-"A huge thump accompanied by a chorus of shocked cries came from the next room before a second thump silenced them all together. "Don't you ever doubt the mechanical prowess of Rocket Raccoon, mate" His companion gaped as they stepped into the room, it looked like something from Raccoon City. A multitude of bodies lay strewn about while a large pendulum made of gun paraphernalia the size of Chris swung lightly from the ceiling of the roof. "Good ole log trap, it never fails" Rocket Raccoon remarked cockily.

"We've got a problem thought, mate. That door over there is locked with a card reader." Rocket Raccoon groused pointing at the far door "Guess we're going to have to search the base." Chris plucked the electronic card he had found from his pocket "Maybe this one will work?" He slid the card through the reader which rewarded his effort by turning blue and unlocking the door. "Lucky punk" his furry companion said crossing his arms. "What can I say; my job requires me to be paranoid when it comes to searching bodies for important keys. Can't tell you how many times I've been screwed over because I didn't pick up some obscure piece of paraphernalia." "Your job sounds like shit" Rocket Raccoon commented as they stepped through the threshold. Chris was about to respond when he saw the room they were in, it was a large semi-circle room with a wraparound waist high window allowing for a peek at the occupants inside.

Chris took a sharp gasp when he saw her; the angel was in the room strapped to a surgery table. She was unconscious and naked head to foot while a bevy of machinery kept log of her vital signs via a crap ton of wires inserted into her body. Her wings drooped pitifully behind her due to the heavy leather straps ensuring that any attempt to move them would be futile. She was sweating profusely giving her body a shiny sheen which made Chris dangerously hot under the collar. Beside him Rocket Raccoon gave a wolf whistle "Damn, that lady's all kinds of naked." He said appreciating the view. Trying not to think about how much he concurred with that statement Chris tore his eyes away from the heavenly beauty to check out the other occupants in the room. Four surgeons bustled about her taking DNA samples, placing them in containers, and labeling said containers for later reference.

"I bet you aces to asses if we break that window we'll be setting off some sodding alarm and be up to elbows in guards before we can blink twice" Rocket Raccoon commented "Let's try to find the door into that room." Crawling under the windows the pair entered a door to the right of the observatory room expecting to find a way inside, what they got were more computers. "Dammit all, haven't you bloody Earthlings ever heard of restraint?" Rocket Raccoon cursed running up to one of them "Let's just hope they left these on." A few taps of the keyboard ensured him they were "Easy as pie" but a few keystrokes later all hell broke loose. A siren began to wail causing the pair of them to flinch "What the hell did you do" Chris yelled over the cacophony. "I must have tripped some kind of alarm or something" his companion yelled back "I've stopped the computer from locking up but it's going to take me a few ticks to crack this. Bet you anything some blokes are on their way, keep them busy, if I let this thing idle too long it'll lock me out." Without looking away from the computer he grabbed his weapon and tossed it to Chris who caught it easily enough. Reentering the observatory room he knelt down just left of the door, out of the immediate eyesight of anyone who would come barging in.

Trying to be pragmatic Chris shot the window hoping to vaporize it or something but the laser didn't even go through the glass. Chalking it up to some alien thing he shot the window with his gun only to have the bullets bounce off leaving it cracked. Apparently these guys had the foresight to install Plexiglas meaning that even if he wasted all his ammo on the window he wouldn't shatter it Behind the window the scientists were scurrying about the room grabbing specimens in a frenetic dash to evacuate the area. A few tense minutes later Chris could hear a flurry of footsteps barreling down the hall causing him to reflexively take a deep breath and block out everything except their arrival. The door opened allowing two to rush into the room missing Chris' form hunkering behind them. He downed the first guy in the back without any hassle but by doing so he alerted the second one to his presence. Pushing himself forward he managed to dodge the first bullet the guard fired which embedded itself in the concrete wall behind him. Time slowed for a second as the agent's spent shell casing flew out the back of his piece while the pair readied their weapons. Chris was fighting the inertia as he moved forward towards the glass observatory trying to keep his aim steady while the guard fought the recoil of his weapon as he brought it around for a second shot. Chris hit the Plexiglas windows rebounding off of them just as the guard fired; his bullet smashed the glass inches away from Chris' chest splintering it like a spider web.

As he fell to the floor the former STARS member shot the guard right in the chest sending him down for a dirt nap. Picking himself off the ground he doubled back to Rocket Raccoon's room "How much longer?" "A bit longer, this bloody code's giving me a hell of a time" the creature replied "Get back in there, I hear more on the way." As Chris returned the door began to vibrate fiercely and some muffled curses could be heard behind it. Resuming his position just out of sight he checked his weird alien weapon, there was nothing on it he could identify as a clip, if this thing needed a clip, so he just prayed it wouldn't run out at an inopportune time. A multitude of guards broke in this time guns at the ready, this was going to hairy. Rushing forward he bowled them over with a shoulder charge disabling two with stun shots. The rest managed to get back on their feet, there were at least four in all, each one built like him and pissed to boot.

With nasty grins all four aimed their barrels at him ready to blow the poor intruder away but Chris was faster and more experienced. With one fluid flick he shot a laser at the floor kicking up enough dust to veil him moderately well and, more importantly, irritate their eyes. Several shots rang out sporadically as the crowd degenerated into a full blown confusion with weapons discharging while arms flailed desperately. These agents had been trained to be the ones in control, to attack their enemies with every single advantage factored heavily in their favor. Instead they had rushed in because their base had been broken into unaware of the number of infiltrators, guessing at how heavily armed their opponents were, and having been ambushed their reliance on their senses had been pushed to the max leaving them especially vulnerable to the dust cloud. Their eyes were blinded, their ears shattered by the close range shots zipping around them, they gagged on dirt in their mouth and nose while their sense of touch triggered their reflex to fire wildly pushing their entire dilemma into a vicious cycle of escalating pain.

Through it all was Chris who was not phased in the slightest, worse had happened to him in his long career as a zombie eradicator. His mind was as sharp as a knife in the heat of battle, calculating the best place for him to stand in order to diminish the likelihood of getting shot while his hands moved as slowly and methodically as a surgeon's. One, two, three, they went down like tall oaks before the ax of a lumberjack screaming in rage as they realized they had failed their mission shaming both themselves and the government they worked for. The fourth one actually had the good sense to click the safety back on his weapon then holster it recognizing the uselessness of trying to shoot blind. Instead he charged forward just as Chris shot the third guard tackling the B.S.A.A member to the ground. The two men grappled like wrestlers, on a lucky jab the guard knocked the laser gun out of Chris' hands forcing him to rely solely on melee.

It could have been a scene out of an old timey, black and white film, the ones where men fought like gentleman, as each slugged the other blow for blow. When Chris slammed the guard in the jaw with his forehead he got a knee to the stomach in return. A belly blow from the guard sent Chris' gut bouncing back and forth between the thoracic cavity walls like a rubber ball, in return another shot to the jaw made blood flow from the guard's mouth forcing him to pause for a second to spit Chiclets. Anyone watching this primal event unfold before them would be hard pressed as to whom to bet on to win, the men were evenly matched in strength, mass, and fighting skill. Ultimately it was experience that won the brawl; Chris had aiming for the jaw all along while his opponent threw punches with no clear cut strategy on how he wanted to end it. The blood flowing from the agent's mouth eventually rolled backward into the throat causing the guard to reflexively gag weakening his grasp for one vital moment. With a yell Chris tossed the man clear across the room with his legs granting him enough time to scramble for the laser pistol.

With enviable reflex the man jumped back onto his feet but no matter how quick he was simple physics had doomed him the moment he had been tossed. He was unable to dodge the stun shot, as quickly as he was back on his feet he was just as fast to return to the ground with a dull thud. Relaxing his guard Chris took a moment to regain his breath, he was smarting all over from the blows but it was better than a bullet to the brain. Around him lay the divots of bullet holes placed in a random manner, some had even impacted the Plexiglas behind him. Chris' gaze was drawn to the occupants within who were quickly disconnecting the angel from the battery of machines she was hooked up to. Panicked that they were about to flee with her he returned to the computer room "They're going to take them with her, are you done yet?" "I'm bloody close ya blighter" Rocket Raccoon screeched back "Just give me a-"

He paused, ears swiveling hard "You got one more bloke to contend with mate. I don't need to be Sherlock bleeding Holmes to tell you this but if my ears aren't going daft you'll be dealing with a monster sized one." He gave Chris a cursory once over "Clean yourself up a tad, you look like hell warmed over." Grabbing one of the first aid sprays he had swiped from the other surgical room Chris carefully applied it to his face and his abs, the Neosporin would stop the small cuts he had sustained from the guys blows while also relieving his aches with the pain killers that would seep into his skin. Angrily he shot a few rounds at the window adding more splinters to the Plexiglas and giving the medics a good scare but accomplishing little else. Anxiously he hid behind the door again planning to end this fight the same as the previous ones, a stun shock to the exposed back. Unfortunately for him either his opponent had gotten wise to his tactics or simply Leeroy Jenkinsed his approach, the blob of exaggerated muscle chose to make a dynamic entrance by busting down the area around the door.

Chris landed hard on his ass, his laser pistol firing wildly missing the hulking behemoth standing in front of them. The giant turned around, his bulk mirrored the size of an El Gigante his fellow agent Leon had encountered during his slog through a backwater European village. In his hand was a massive mace and chain while the other held a giant slab of steel that was probably a humongous sword. "When I heard we had been invaded I was expecting someone…bigger" the creep remarked smiling broadly "Why is it always cockroaches?" Chris stood back rolling his right shoulders "I think all those steroids you've been popping like candy has been depriving the ole noggin of precious oxygen if you think for a second I'm some damned cockroach." The man just smiled showing off his yellow teeth "The name's Vidarr punk and Imma about to squash you like the insect you are."

On that note Chris shot the guy with the stun bolt fully expecting this guy to drop like the others, he was sorely disappointed. The muscle freak seized up for a sec before shaking it off like if it was a coat. "That tickled, bug" Vidarr commented before backhanding Chris sending him slamming up against the Plexiglas. Then he swung the ball and chain above his head letting it fly at Chris who managed to roll out of the way but not without a jolt of pain slamming up and down his spine. Two more shots later confirmed it; the bolt pistol was not powerful enough to overcome the guy forcing Chris to choose. He could either use conventional weaponry or he could try melee, it was a no brainer really but ethical issues had to be addressed. Drawing the Red9 he shot three non-lethal bullets into the guy's leg relying on the tried and true method of the B.S.A.A, if your opponent survived the head shot go for his knee cap instead. Sadly Vidarr's knee was encased in slabs of steroid stimulated muscle which protected the guy from a shattered knee cap.

Stumping forward the hulking figure drew his sword rending the air with inaccurate slashes fueled by power not skill. One managed to score a small laceration on Chris' leg which was clotted with another first aid spray before he rolled away from incoming slices. Sticking to his guns he shot more bullets into the giant's leg finally scoring a small victory. The elite guard toppled to the side like a tree screaming like a baby as the blood ran down his leg like the mighty Mississippi giving Chris a free shot at the guy's back. Holstering his weapon Chris rushed forward jumping on the man's massive back clenching his fists around Vidarr's neck. The pair grappled for a second as Vidarr fought the chokehold by staggering back as quickly as he could till he felt his back hit the Plexiglas wall. He fought as best as he could but the steroid user had just enough air to stay conscious, a few more back slams against the wall forced Chris to jump off.

There was a brief lull in the battle as the two fought to regain their breath, thanks to the wounds Chris had sustained in his fights beforehand Vidarr managed to recover first. With a mighty jab he sent Chris rolling along the floor like a ball. Gathering his weaponry he stalked towards the downed agent whipping his ball and chain about the air with the ferocity of a whirlwind, a wicked grin plastered itself on his face. "At least you put up more of a fight than a most bugs" he consoled his opponent in a voice dripping with sickly sweet sarcasm "I'll even tell the janitors to mop you up with care, whatever's left of you that is." Struggling to get up Chris weakly grasped the gun that had fallen to the side closest to the wall out of his foe's sight. Drawing on the luck of a hundred similiar events he angled it as best he could from his position. He hesitated for a second wondering who best to pray to, after all if he landed this shot it could be debated as a miracle under the circumstances. Invoking irony Chris decided to say a little prayer the angel lying unconscious a few yards away from him separated by cement and glass.

The shot blasted out of the barrel with a small bang and hit money, Vidarr's left eye exploded into a gelatinous mess of white, red, and pink. The steroid junkie screamed like a little kid clutching at the mess streaming from his eye as if he wanted to gather it up again to try to rebuild it. As he staggered about blindly it gave Chris more than enough time to regain his breath and stand back on his feet. Once he regained his footing Vidarr had been reduced to pitiful sap lying on the ground about to go unconscious from the shock. Mercifully Chris slammed him in the back of the head with his pistol's butt knocking the guy out. He was sore all over from that last attack but this was no time for wound licking, his target was in sight. "Please, please tell me that…you've got access." Chris groaned as he entered the computer room gingerly. The Guardian of the Galaxy turned to him giving him a mega cocky grin "Don't get your knickers in a twist" he pressed a button on the computer and the door to the angel's room opened with a light machine whirl.

The technicians had abandoned their posts a while ago bringing as many DNA samples on their exodus as they could carry under their arms. With the alarm still screaming in their ears the two quickly ripped out the wires embedded in and on her body pausing only momentarily to ensure that whatever they were pulling out wouldn't have a harmful effect on her. Eventually the wires fell away releasing her from the medical bonds prompting Chris to turn to Rocket Raccoon. "Can I borrow your knife for a moment" he asked getting a quizzical look in response. Silently he handed over his knife which Chris placed on the table momentarily allowing him to doff his vest and pull off his shirt. "I like rhumpy-pumpy as much as the next chap but is this really the time mate?" Chris glowered at his companion "She's unconscious" Rocket Raccoon shrugged "So?" Exasperated Chris didn't reply choosing to show not tell, he grabbed the knife he borrowed slashing two large slits in the back of it.

Carefully he lifted the angel off the table dressing her in his shirt which was several sizes too big on her which covered her nakedness fairly well. The wings proved to be quite a hassle though; it took painstaking work on both Chris and Rocket Raccoon's part to thread her wingspan through the short slits. Satisfied he wouldn't be molesting her in her sleep the former STARS member picked her up into his arms bridal style surprised at how light she was. If he had to make a scientific guess he would assume her feather weight came from the fact she was a flier, hollowed out bone marrow and all that medical jazz. "Let's mosey" he said nodding over to the door the medics had escaped through. Quickly the pair exited unaware that their movements were being tracked via the cameras stationed at angles about the rooms and corridors of the base.

From one of the media rooms a fat cat bureaucrat watched them aghast at what they had on their possession. "Who are they, what the hell is that thing next to him, how the hell did they find us" he asked the bevy of men surrounding him, his subordinates. These men were clearly agents or at least had been agents; their much more lean physique coupled with their analytical eyes betrayed their true positions within the organization. These were the supervisors of the base; a few of them even held high positions within the CIA proper and right now they were seeing their pink slips begin to form in front of their eyes. "We've rallied the rest of the men here on base but our opponents have done a good job at thinning our ranks, especially the one who took down Vidarr" one of them spoke up "We'll head them off at the elevators before they can escape to the surface." If this little stratagem was designed to calm their boss it failed miserably, he launched into a frenzy of swinging arms in tandem with his girth.

"Dammit, I ain't going to sit here watching you chuckleheads sit on your asses throwing using the same bullshit tactics" he screamed composing himself for a split second to slam a button on one of the computer monitors lying in front of them. The sirens died for a split second before switching a lower pitch accompanied by a robotic female voice. "Attention" she called "hideout lockdown protocol had been initiated. Please swap to an encrypted radio channel in order to receive your orders. Repeat, hideout lockdown…" In the monitor room the bureaucrat's entourage balked at his actions "Sir, this is unwise. We have men wounded in the corridors; the lockdown will greatly delay medical attention from getting to them." Their boss whipped around his fat finger jabbing into the chest of one of his dissenters "This is why I hate you agent types, you ain't like the army. Those boys in the service know when to keep their damn lips shut when their superior gives them an order. Your careers, each and every one of ya's, as well as mine is in the shitter if we lose them. This angel thing is the biggest scientific finds of the century, the potential atomic bomb of the 21st century if ya get my drift. The minute we lose her all our jobs are lost and whatever overtime we sweated through in order to get our pensions will vanish into thin air. Now, you boys can worry over some brain damage or blood loss or you can say screw em, put medals of honor or whatever you shit heads give out for getting injured on the job, and help me keep our bacon safe." His subordinates silently nodded embracing his logic "What shall we do" they asked obediently.

Meanwhile Chris and Rocket Raccoon were bumbling about one of the corridors trying to find an exit after heavy steel bulkheads came crashing down around them cutting off every conceivable path. "Don't suppose you've got something in that tool belt of yours that'll get us out of here?" Chris asked clutching the angel closer to his chest as he whirled about agitatedly. His furry companion didn't reply choosing instead to switch the setting of his pistol from stun to melt aiming at the wall. A small white laser emanating such a heat that even Chris who was several yards away from Rocket Raccoon could feel the temperature rise notably. The laser dug into the metal turning the dull grey color into rosy red that dripped away slowly until a large enough hole for Chris to squeeze through after a moment to let the metal cool.

Their second attempt at melting a bulkhead was met with much more disappointing results, the laser pistol suddenly gave a high whine as it dug through before shutting off entirely. "Damn" Rocket Raccoon muttered fiddling with his weapon "Tis nature for machinery to fail the moment the need for it is greatest." "Can you fix it" Chris asked anxious to get out of this rat trap as fast as possible. "Hate to say it mate but this little bugger is out of commission for the duration. We'll have to wriggle our way out of this one some other way." Uselessly the pair glanced about the corridor hoping to find something that might prove to be useful in their escape. With roving eyes Rocket Raccoon landed his gaze on Chris, more specifically his hands and what they were gripping. Usually when one describes a grin they compare witty ones to a fox or a weasel, those poor animals had nothing to the perverted, knowing grin of a raccoon.

"I see we're having a grand old time" he noted twirling his bum weapon about lazily "Although if you squeeze those delicious buns any harder I daresay they'll bruise." Poor Chris was caught red handed, their movement about the corridor had slowly maneuvered Chris' shirt up the angel's waist. While the altered garment did cover her up decently it was far from perfect and soon Chris found his hands filled with her bare ass, the rest of his shirt pooled around her thighs hiding her lady parts. Nobody, ever, could in their right mind accuse Chris of being easily distracted. From merciless weather, to untold biological horrors, to the rambunctious female companions he was constantly partnered with, nothing and no one could seem to distract Chris from his mission. But the man was also mortal, a living, breathing, flesh being fully invested with all the supposed biological urges carved via evolution or, alternatively, all the lusts of a man's heart as proven by literature immemorial. Fully aware of the grip of his hand Chris bowed to an urge that he had rarely felt since Raccoon City.

Her ass was truly a wonder, as firm as a peach, as soft as a tulip petal. It was the sort of ass great men of literature, way before the internet came along cheapening sexuality with its flood of nudity, attempted to describe using woefully inadequate words to describe one of life's greatest sensual pleasure, the grasping of a perfect ass. Slowly his thumb trailed down one of the cheeks making small circles in its journey in a highly whimsical manner. At times he would palm the whole of hand admiring it completely with every nerve in his fingers, at other times he would explore the edge with his index fingers making occasional journey's to her ass crack which lingered for a moment before retreating back to the ridges like a frightened animal, fearful but curious. One particular expedition was particularly bold, the index finger wiggled into the crack frenetically snuggled in between the two cheeks allowing Chris to rim her asshole with his index finger once before wiggling back out to resume its patrol like a thief in the night having stolen away a wonderful treasure.

While not necessarily an ass man, Chris would have touted he preferred women who had a little of everything over a specific body part, he found this little feel up to be particularly titillating so he hadn't realized Rocket Raccoon had picked up it. Turning red from embarrassment and shame Chris looked away mutely full convicted of his sins through observation opening him up to a few verbal broadsides. "I trust you know how pressed for time we are mate" Rocket Raccoon commented with artificial nonchalance "But if you must you can head down the corridor and take care of business, better to do it now than in the midst of a fire fight." Pawing his shirt till it covered the angel's ass once again Chris tried to save what little face he had left "Don't we have bigger priorities to deal with right now?" he asked stiffly trying in vain to deflect attention from his moral failings. "I seriously doubt mate," Rocket Raccoon commented lowering his gaze from Chris' hand to his crotch where something was obvious "Priorities we do have, aye, but bigger? Not likely."

It was one of those phrases that hid a certain truth alongside the sarcasm; Chris truly was a large man in every definition of the word, which made the statement all the more awkwardly hilarious. Sadly it wasn't given much time to stew as a powerful force began to cut away at the door behind them with a terrific racket. The force of agents composed of those still conscious and in good health as gathered by the CIA subordinates, was cutting their way through the bulkhead in an attempt to finish off the intruders hoping to use their larger force to quash the pair like a penny under the wheels of a train. With the mentalities of trained warriors both Chris and Rocket Raccoon switched flawlessly from tormentor and victim to battle partners whose bond was strengthened in blood and pain. Wordlessly Rocket Raccoon gestured for Chris to get behind him, suitably enough of a distance away so that the ensuing cross fire would not strike the angel. In return Chris tossed his companion his hand gun seeing as how his pal was currently weaponless.

Pulling out his M16 Chris placed the angel at the farthest corner of the hall making her a small target before kneeling in front of her to shield her. He sighted down his weapon watching carefully as the door was cut in a large circle, in their haste the agents had decided not to cut away the entire bulkhead meaning only a few of their force at a time could come crashing through. After a few minutes their heat torch completed its circle then it was switched off before one of the agents hammered it down with his foot. A small barrage of shots zoomed down the corridor, too high to hit Rocket Raccoon but too haphazard to come anywhere near Chris. The pair answered with two precise bullets of their own sending two agents down screaming as their legs were reduced to bloody flesh bits. Their comrades didn't hesitate for a second; several of them stepped over the writhing bodies of their downed comrades advancing towards the pair.

The choice to have Rocket Raccoon up front with Chris in back proved to be surprisingly advantageous. The light footed Rocket Raccoon's size meant that the hours of shooting at human sized targets the agents had invested in suddenly turned against them as they sighted down the barrel at the pintsized powerhouse. With amazing agility the animal danced around a storm of bullet death drawing the attention of the agents allowing Chris to continue to pop out knee shots disabling each one that stepped over the threshold. After a while of this the agents wised up a bit, half of them shot at Chris to provide cover fire for the advancing ones who were dealing with Rocket Raccoon. Realizing his partner was in danger the Guardian of the Galaxy abandoned his attempts at distraction choosing instead to engage in melee via jumping on to one of the agent's faces. With a yowl he clawed at the eyes eliciting shrieks from all of his enemies nearby, some sort of primal fear was triggered and soon everyone became involved with trying to pry the rabid Rocket Raccoon off the poor agent's face.

Coinciding with his partner's facial assaults Chris continued to disable guards; the pair moved from one to the other obliterating many of the agents in short order. Suddenly one with nerves of iron shot forward grabbing the furry, little ankle biter by the scruff of the neck "Hey guys, I got him" he shouted waving the poor critter about in the air. Coincidently it was at this particular moment Chris had run out of bullets forcing him reload as fast as he could before his ally got shot. "Caught ya, little bastard" one of the guards sneered leveling his gun at Rocket Raccoon's head "Go to hell." "You first mate" the apprehended animal snarled back, a flick of his wrist netted the poor sap with a knife through the hand he was holding his gun with. Surprised the agent dropped his weapon which went off blasting away the man who was holding him up right in the thigh.

By this time Chris had managed to reload and his next three shots cleared the area around Rocket Raccoon allowing him to spring onto yet another poor unfortunate soul's face. Soon the entire hallway was filled with the bodies of agents bleeding out of an arm or leg which were quickly pistol whipped into unconsciousness ensuring they wouldn't suddenly gather up the courage needed to shoot the pair in the back. Chris filled up on all the ammo the agents had on them scoring a backup Red9 which he offered to Rocket Raccoon "Thanks lad but the minute we're out of this bloody base I'll be handing this back to you quicker than a photon, these primitive Earth weapons make me feel like a barbarian." As they trekked onward it seemed their luck finally turned sweet, when the lockdown had happened the unit that had attacked them had been stuck in another room forcing them to carve their way through the corridor from the east branch of the base. The path before them was straightforward garnering a whoop from Rocket Raccoon "Good on ya, let's get out of here!"

Chris took a step towards the lift before the angel in his arms suddenly sprung to life. Her actions were chaotic and frenetic; she tried to wriggle out of his grasp as her wings beat the space about his head with short angry flaps. From out of her mouth came a guttural chant "Skadi…Skadi…Skadi…" she moaned grasping at the air behind Chris' head. "What the hell" was all he got out before his vision blackened for a knee wobbling second as his senses swapped about like a sniper switching a target. It was a brief second but the vision had more clarity than most of Chris' memories, it was a large box gilded in gold with a blue stick poking out of the top of it. As suddeny it had appeared reality reasserted itself bringing Rocket Raccoon's worried muzzle into his eyesight. He was speaking words, probably laced in a colorful tapestry of curses, but Chris was soon standing once again at the box looking at its contents. This switch between realities occurred several times until Chris was on the edge of vomiting everything he had ever eaten onto the floor of the hallway.

Just as he was about spew, a memory wiggled its way into his head, it was on the roof of the hospital last night. The angel had battled back the demon trying to kill him with a weapon that was blue and glowed with an otherworldly light. 'Her weapon' he thought fighting to stay in control of his body 'these asshole agents must have taken it from her. She's calling to it or something.' He paused for a second 'Do you want me to get it back?' His thought must have been heard by her or something, he was shown one last vision with a painfully clear hallucination before reality returned completely. His body was kneeling on the ground in all fours, the equilibrium had been shot thanks to those highly disorienting visions, and the angel's body was a few inches away from his face lying limply on the ground.

"Bugger, this is just peachy" Rocket Raccoon snarled from somewhere beside him "All I want to do is get the hell out of here and there you go swooning all over the damn place." The nausea dropped off sharply allowing the B.S.A.A member to stand without too much vertigo "I'll be right back" he ordered "Watch her for me." He rushed off to the east wing while his furry companion shouted after him "Where the hell are you going, the lift is right blooming here!" Ignoring him Chris navigated the tunnels which like the west wing had also been melted through thanks to the thermal lance the agents had used. The road led back to that first intersection room that had forced the pair back before thanks to the number of agents lounging about inside. Now his path was clear of any and all interference letting him head straight to the north into a nest of corridors.

Some kind of sixth sense must have been guiding him, the angel probably, because each time he stepped up to a corner the vision of the weapon would flash causing him to stagger back. The central corridor did not activate this weird sense and after some experimenting Chris reasoned that the visions were some kind of confirmation that the weapon did not lay beyond those doors. Pushing his way forward Chris stumbled into a room filled almost completely with a large glass cube that contained the box the weapon was in. The whole atmosphere was reminiscent of the old Indiana Jones movies Chris had watched during his childhood, a great treasure of unimaginable wealth lay before him which was not meant to be sullied by human hands. Nonetheless he took out his gun firing a few bullets to shatter the glass that surrounded the weapon. Another damned alarm shrieked into life but Chris ignored it choosing to head over to the box.

Without so much as a thought he gripped the handle of the weapon his intent solely to get out here as fast as possible. In less of a rush he might have carefully pawed at the weapon one or two times, after all it had been wielded by an angel while exuding weird and supernatural powers. As it was he picked it up like someone would grab a piece of bread as they sped down the aisle their sights set on the checkout counter which was miraculously empty. With one swipe he hoisted it up onto his shoulder pivoting to head back out the door when a chill crept its way down his arm diffusing to every part of his body in an instant. It was like a blizzard had entered his very soul and once again Chris was down on the ground hostage to powers he could never had imagined in his wildest dreams. Eventually the chill made its way riotously up into his brain where it spoke to him, if that's what one could call it. Upon reflecting on this phenomenon later on in his life Chris would be tongue tied as he described how the weapon spoke to him, it was sentient but not eloquent. There were no words only raw feelings that were crammed into his head with the unbridled fury of a legendary snowstorm.

The first few minutes were pure hell as Chris' entire mental fortitude was completely spent to try and prevent his psyche to be shattered by the storm. Like all senses however it adapted and soon Chris could begin to make out the feelings the weapon was crushing him with, it was comparable to standing it pitch darkness as a large neon sign blinked on and off in a repetitive pattern. The first feeling was fury; the weapon was shrieking in rage that it was him gripping it and not its exalted master. The second feeling was one of arrogance; it wanted to drive home the fact that the man wielding it was a bug compared to it. The third feeling was one of defeat, its master had given her consent for him to pick it up and if there was one thing the weapon had been transmitting throughout the entire mental link it was complete devotion to its master.

The fourth and final feeling was a complete surprise; Chris suspected the weapon didn't want to translate it but apparently mental links had a funny way of dredging up stuff that both participants didn't want revealed. It was helpless and it hated feeling like that. Pitifully it pined for its master who was mere yards away from it but those yards might have been light years for it had no way of returning to the hands of its master by its own power. This mighty weapon, borne from the hands of the gods, was asking, nay pleading, with this nobody from Raccoon City to find some kind of generosity from the depths of his little mortal soul and return it to where it belonged. And this mortal, this man who had suffered horrific events that had rocked his world forever, fought with a man who had had the delusions of a god with the heart of a devil, and who was struggling to free his partner who had stood through it all from the grips of chest parasite; this man accepted. Thus the weapon, at its master's request, yielded to him.

Reality realigned itself once again leaving Chris kneeling in front of the back holding the weapon horizontally with both hands as if he had accepted it from some ancient king of legend. Calmly he arose, hoisted the weapon on one shoulder before exiting the room to return to his friends. Despite his outer exterior which shone with a sort of peaceful detachment his senses were fine tuned thanks to the weapon. Chris paused as he entered the east wings final intersection room, the hallway to the elevator was to the south. Shifting into a guard stance he swiveled to the left, a massive blow had shattered the wall sending huge chunks of concrete wall barreling straight at him. Luckily they bounced harmlessly off the hilt of his weapon scattering about the far corners of the room. Emerging from the hole was a thread of bright red which slammed into the hilt of the weapon as well launching several strikes trying to get around the guard.

Grunting painfully Chris was forced on the back step his footwork clumsily trying to keep up with his attacker's agility. Eventually his guard proved too much to get through; using a very large piece of rock he steadied his footwork allowing him to push the attacker off of him. It sailed several feet away from him in the air twisting and turning with Olympic grace before landing in an open space on the floor revealing its identity to him. "For some reason I didn't peg you as the nosy type" remarked pushing her sunglasses farther up the bridge of her nose "I wish I had put you temporarily out of commission while I had the chance." She glanced about the base analyzing it "I must admit, you're stubborn as a mule with more skill than I gave you credit for. Breaking into this base was no small feat." She brought her fists up to her face "Don't think of the beating I'm about to subject you to as a loss, the sheer fact you forced me to react is something you should celebrate."

Chris didn't respond at first choosing to swirl the heavenly weapon about watching it hum with energy. The heft and weight were incredible; he had never once picked up anything like it. This thing in his hands was made to kill, crafted specifically to wage war on anything foolish enough to stand in the bearer's way. "Look, there are two easy ways to do this" he explained to her hunkering down with the weapon pointed at her "You can give up now or in a few moments you can be taking a ride in the ambulance, your choice." Her reply was a fist in his face which he returned with a blow to the waist and their battle began. Strategically it would prove to be a very interesting battle, both opponents were using up the last reserves of strength they had to try and land blows. struggled to stay on her feet ducking and weaving the sloppily aimed blows from Chris who was panting like a dog.

Annoyed at the resistance he was putting up, even more so with herself from being unable to power through it, back flipped over a blow striking the ground with her gloved hand. The pent up kinetic energy resonated through the earth's crust till it struck a portion of the tectonic plate underneath them. It returned as a seismic tremor that ripped through the building uprooting the sewage system, sending the foundation into a tiny sinkhole while causing debris from the roof down upon everyone's heads. Reflexively knelt on the ground covering her arms with her head; her tech suit would protect her from anything really dangerous. Rocket Raccoon in the meantime scrambled to protect his charge using his laser knife to slice through any cement chunks that threatened to harm them. Once the quake had subsided the entire room where had been in was filled with mounds of cement chunks while the dust lingered heavily in the air.

With a grunt the CIA pushed her way out of a mound of rubble tired but completely unharmed. The tech suit's best attack was the Seismo attack which was a miracle of modern technology based on cutting edge physics. Summarizing it as best as one could it by was a wave of energy stimulating the unstable parts of the tectonic plates in order to produce quakes that could register a point five reading on the Richter scale at its worse. Naturally the bevy of problems associated with the attack enforced explained why used it rarely. It was completely uncontrollable when launched while affecting a big area, everyone in the vicinity of roughly a mile would be effected in some way. There had been a few times that the attack proved to hinder rather than help , at best she used it to try and turn the favor of battle when she was losing badly. As she glanced about the room it seemed her choice to use it would pay dividends, Chris was nowhere to be seen presumably crushed under the debris.

Her exhale of relief became a sigh of disbelief as she watched him push his way up from out of the ground like a stubborn weed. He too had been unaffected by the earthquake, he had knelt down on the floor raising the weapon he had stolen from the base to block the rubble. Exasperated took a few breaths before re-launching herself at her opponent knuckles crackling with electricity. He parried her blow, the electricity unable to conduct its way through the weapon, forcing her back slightly before hitting her in the side with the blunt edge. stumbled back a few inches grunting with pain before aiming a kick at him. She hit the weapon which is exactly what she wanted. Activating the jets she braced against the recoil turning her single kick into a barrage of quick jerky blows which consumed Chris in an inferno. Yelling in pain he could feel the searing heat drawing closer to his fingers and face threatening to burn him to a crisp.

The weapon merely laughed at the fire before turning on the frost. While it could never summon a chill without the innate power of its master the soul of its current owner was strong enough to allow it to draw forth a fragment of its power. The smirk painted on 's face degraded into a frown as the flame her boots produced suddenly began to dwindle, slowly but consistently. Soon she could see the man she was trying to barbeque, the heat had caused his bare chest to gleam from the amount of sweat he was producing in regards to the heat and his skin was a bit pink but not the faintest of scorch marks had been inflicted on him. With a roar he channeled all of his focus into the weapon's attempt to subdue her flames and before long her flame had gone out while a decent chunk of frost had frozen her foot to the handle of the weapon. Chris drew upon the last remnants of his strength to raise the weapon as well as his foe with it over his head before slamming her back on the floor eliciting a shriek of pain from her. The ice encasing her foot shattered on the ground allowing her to retreat a few feet away with a light limp.

The pair didn't move for a second drawing deep, heaving breaths from the dust shrouded air around them. "Why are you doing this for her" asked trying to ignore the dull pain in her calves as she hobbled up onto her feet. "Cause…Cause we're similar" Chris replied mopping the sweat from his brow and his chest. She quirked an eyebrow at his response "Similar are you? I fail to see how you could possibly relate to each other at all." Chris thought it over for a second doubting if she would believe him but he supposed at this point of the battle negotiating was possible. So he revealed everything to her, the battle in the park, those first few words that had alerted them to the fact that not everything was as it seemed, and finally how they had been trying to find each other to figure out how the hell they had gotten to this world.

For a while said nothing choosing to chew upon this fantastic story for a spell which was more progress than Chris thought he would get with his tale. He had been expecting her to laugh in his face before punching him again; instead she did just the opposite. "Let's go" she muttered gesturing to the door "We need to get out of here, reinforcements are on their way." Lowering his weapon he stared at her in disbelief "You're buying this" he asked incredulously. Sniffing crossed her arms "I don't believe you completely but there are…consistencies." Chris looked at her puzzled but she merely shook her head "I've still got to figure it out myself; I'll need some hard evidence until I'm completely on board but for now I'll help you guys out." The weapon was screaming at him to finish her off but Chris ignored it choosing instead to trust in the agent. Hoisting the weapon once again over his shoulder he climbed over the piles of rubble leading over to the door. Mounds of dirt blocked the entrance but one quick kick from blew open a path for them.

Rocket Raccoon was in fits when they got back "Dammit you bloody sodder here I am keeping you and your little angel safe from cement chunks the size of my cranium and you run off with another stunner." He rushed over to kissing her hand with all the flair of a gentleman "Name's Rocket Raccoon mademoiselle, the pleasure is all yours I trust." "Touch me again and I'll skin you alive" she replied icily gazing banefully at Chris "You seem to attract all sorts of freaks don't you?" Chris didn't reply, he was too busy picking up the angel using the crook of his right arm to carry her while balancing the weapon on his shoulder with his left hand. "How the hell are you touching that" asked as they boarded the elevator "When I tried that it nearly froze my hand off." Chris nodded at the unconscious angel in his arms "She let me pick it up" he explained with a growl "It was a major hassle to get consent too." This answer left the CIA agent puzzled but she didn't ask any more questions, she was tired both physically and mentally plus since they were banding together there would be plenty of time for Q&A later. The elevator groaned as its gears fought to lift everyone but slowly they made their way up to the apartment.

The poor CIA sap they had stunned earlier was still unconscious, blissfully unaware of the utter destruction of the base he was supposed to be guarding. The morning sun, only about three hours old, felt incredible on everyone's faces as they exited the building. "So what now" asked stifling a yawn "Do we have any leads?" "Forget leads girlie let's focus on accommodations for the next few days" Rocket Raccoon snapped back "I'm tookered out, anymore of this run about is liable to off me for sure." "I think that's a good idea" Chris noted turning to his two companions "Let's regain our strength and compare notes, maybe something will pop up too. A lead or something we can look into." nodded pulling out a bright gold card out of her pocket "They'll freeze my accounts within an hour but for now I'll be able to draw enough money from the CIA's account to cover us for a bit. I suggest a cheap motel and takeout pizza." "That sounds divine" Chris commented with a heaving sigh "Got some place in mind?"


	9. Turnabout Arachnid

Chapter 9: Turnabout Arachnid

Plain text is Japanese

_Italicized text is English _

Phoenix Wright, known as Nick to his friends, was used to sleeping on his desk, with the amount of dedication he put into his work back to back to back overnight stays at the office were not as uncommon as one might have thought. Even so he was usually up earlier than his companion Maya who fought with very ounce of strength each morning to stay asleep. Today however his hyperactive friend was up before him screaming at the top of her lungs about something incomprehensible jolting him awake. Yawning he pushed himself upright into his computer chair "What's wrong" he asked. Maya's face did that strangely adorable thing where her face puffed up like a chipmunk while her eyes narrowed into her best version of a death gaze. "Listen to me" she groused crossing her arms petulantly "Everyone is speaking in a weird language!" Nick quirked an eyebrow "How late last night were you up watching Steel Samurai?" he asked dryly rubbing his eyes.

"I'm not sleep hallucinating Nick, people really are talking weird" she insisted banging her hands down on the table. "Can I get a cup of coffee first" He asked yawning again "Actually can I go home first, I could really use a shower." "Noooo" his friend whined "Nick, I'm serious, people are talking crazy." Before he could reply a knock came from his door, Maya had pushed it open so whoever wanted to enter had to knock on the doorway. The guy at the door was a sharply dressed business man who shot the pair of them a winning smile oozing confidence which was slightly undermined by the heavy bags under his eyes as well as well as the slight strain in his smile. "_Hello, are you the lawyer Phoenix Wright?" _he asked causing the pair of them to jump.

"See Nick, see" Maya shouted pointing unabashedly at the stranger "He's talking crazy!" Not one to fault towards the unknown Nick's mind was a blur as he tried to deduct what the hell was happening. "I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" he asked the man concluding he might have misheard him or the man's voice was garbled in some way. _"Aww crap, of course the only lawyer Jameson didn't get to is speaking Chinese or something" _the man muttered confirming that he was indeed speaking different language. 'Alright that's not strange; it could be some kind of tourist. He could be lost or something' the lawyer reasoned turning to a hysteric Maya. "Calm down Maya, I'm sure he's just a tourist or something. I think he's speaking German or something." This did not console Maya in the slightest "Then how do you explain how everyone outside is now a tourist, besides Franziska speaks German and that doesn't sound like whatever comes from her mouth." Maya made a minor point, one the prosecutor's he had faced in court did like to resort to German at times, usually when she was lashing him from wall to wall because he had destroyed a piece of her evidence in cross examination. "Maybe a large bus of French or Armenian or Spanish tourists let off in front of the building" he reasoned before looking at the guy in his doorway 'How the hell am I going to get him to leave?'

The man in question had pulled out a phone and was speaking with someone on the phone in low tones in his foreign tongue. "Do you think he wandered in here by mistake" he asked Maya who was empathetic in her refusal of his logic. "No, I've seen this before" she explained intensely "In Steel Samurai episode 14 season 8 aliens took over the population of Earth by transplanting themselves into the brains of their victims. While this hostile takeover was going on all who were brain-jacked would converse in alien." Maya shuffled around behind Nick "We're part of the one percent of the population who can resist their diabolical brain high jacking attempts." Nick deadpanned, he was used to his partner's rambling attempts to colorfully explain the unexplainable that happened before them far more often than he would have liked but this was just taking it onto a whole new level of crazy entirely.

Ignoring Maya's jabbering about tin foil hats and rubbish Nick began to apply cold hard logic to the situation that had presented itself in front of them. Clearly the man was talking in a different language and he was unable to understand Japanese, hence Nick concluded this was a foreigner. This foreigner had wandered into his law office without any indication that he was lost; there were no facial expressions or non verbal clues which were universally interpreted as signs of confusion. Thus this man had arrived here on purpose; he had sought out this particular building. However it could be seen that the man had been confused when they had started their one sided conversation, perhaps he had assumed that Nick spoke his native tongue? That seemed flawed, perhaps you could assume that confidently in Europe where being a polyglot was a part of many cultures found in that continent but this was Japan where the majority would spend their lives speaking only their native tongue. It could be theorized that Nick's full name, Phoenix Wright, which was not a purely Japanese name had made the foreigner guess that Nick spoke other languages?

The mystery man in question seemed to be arguing with someone on his very high tech phone, his face was creased with anger and his voice rose into a steady but not in an overbearing crescendo. With a click he stopped his conversation looking both successful and annoyed. Arrogantly he sat down on one of the chairs in the office preserved for clients crossing his legs with an air of finality. Nick frowned at the man's poor manners as well as his refusal to leave his office, clearly he wanted to talk about something but by being unable to do so thanks to the language barrier he had plopped himself down for the long haul like a stubborn child. Sadly Nick was many things but he was not assertive, his best friend Miles Edgeworth had drawled that should an elephant find reason to sit on the poor defense attorney that Nick would allow the life to squeeze out of him rather than impose on the poor animal to simply shift its weight five feet to the right. Thus did the next half hour go by with the man seated in front of Nick and Maya without a care in the world save what he was fiddling with on his phone.

"How rude" Maya commented angrily puffing her cheeks out once again the tips of her ears red "Aliens have even worse manners than Westerners." The man looked up at her, his attention drawn by her voice, and he gave her a sly wink making Nick doubt his initial analysis that the man couldn't speak Japanese. Not wanting to appear the fool he quietly waited at the man hoping he would leave while Maya swapped between rage at the stranger's abrupt behavior and flattered that such a handsome man had paid her a compliment. Time seemed to tick by slowly but eventually a pair of footsteps could be heard out in the hallway and a second man entered the room. The pair was as different as night and day, the first interloper was neatly dressed in a suit with an air of refinement draped about him like a silken cloth. This second man had a wild look in his eyes that soaked every other aspect of his character from his windswept hair, to his less than pleasant odor, to his clothing which was mostly cheap leather and cotton, to his way of talking which was short and rough. "_Can you translate for me, Logan_?" the refined gentleman asked gesturing to the pair in front of him "_You're a polyglot right_?"

"_Damn you to hell Stark_" the wild one snapped back, his large canines causing Nick to flinch with every word the man sneered "_You entangle my daughter in your damn Avengers racket and now you want me to be your Babelfish? Screw you._" "_We can talk about your daughter and her __voluntary__ action to join my Avengers later_" the refined one bit back looking annoyed "_Peter's in trouble and right now this guy is the only lawyer Jonah hasn't gotten to yet. This isn't for me or the Avengers but for Spider-Man._" The rough man looked conflicted for a moment "_If you're not careful Stark you're going to find my claws rammed up your gut, I don't care how many of those glorified tin suits you have, I will kill you._" He shifted his attention to Nick which made the poor soul flinch with fright "_Alright Leisure Suit Larry what language do you speak? Talk!"_ he barked "Please don't hurt me" Nick wailed placing his hands in front of his face in supplication "I'm broke, honest to righteousness" "So how the hell are you renting this apartment then" the wild man asked in perfect if archaic Japanese "This flat could easily go for half a million on the market today." "All my attorney's fees go straight into rent" Nick explained pathetically "For food sometimes I…wait!"

He jumped up out of his chair caught completely off guard "You speak Japanese?" "I'm this guy's translator" the wild man explained "Why the hell are you here in New York City if you can't speak a lick of English?" "New York? We're not in New York, we're in Tokyo" Nick replied, which got him a funny look from the wild man. But before he could reply Maya called out to him "Nick, you better get over here and look at this" her voice sounded blunt from shock. She was looking out the window of his office like something unbelievable was going on right there on the street her mouth slightly agape. As he walked over to Maya he noticed the calculating stares of both men, it sent a shiver down his spine the one he hated because it portended some kind of catastrophic event was about to go down in a few brief seconds. Hesitantly he switched his gaze from his visitors to the window and nearly fell over from shock. Having lived in Tokyo all his life Nick was familiar with the great city's skyline, the shape, size and location of her skyscrapers as well as the neon lights filled with adorable advertisements for different Japanese goods and services.

What stood before him were skyscrapers which were indistinguishable from their Eastern counterparts in style but vastly different in placement and the neon signs presented their wares in a foreign language. Nick stood there stunned his mind racing to piece together an explanation to this ridiculous truth that had placed itself in front of them. Absentmindedly he went over to check his dinosaur of a computer, used mostly for documenting his cases than actual internet surfing, the time on the bottom of the screen showed that it was about seven in the morning and, most importantly, that it was the day after tomorrow. Definitively he crossed out the conspiracy plan growing in the irrational part of his mind that someone had kidnapped both Maya and him, drugged them and transported them to an office in America which had been painstakingly made to look like a replica of the original in Tokyo.

Not wanting to fault to Maya-like theories Nick tried to use logic to come up with how his entire office, Maya and he had been transported half way around the world to New York within the span of eight hours. Naturally that proved to be impossible leaving Nick at a loss of what to do which was interrupted by the wild looking man. "We have a case for you" he explained gruffly "a friend of mine's being prosecuted for something he didn't do." Nick frowned, normally he would have jumped at a case like this but with the extenuating circumstances he really didn't have time to spend defending someone. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know how to…put this exactly but…" he trailed off trying to find some way to explain to the translator the situation he was currently in "I don't know how we got here to America." It was weird and stupid sounding making Nick blush when it came out of his mouth but the wild man didn't laugh or give him a strange look. "Find out later" he advised the hapless lawyer "Office buildings like these cost a pretty penny here and without income you won't last a month here." Grabbing a brief case he shoved it into Nick's arms "Open it" he instructed him. The lawyer did so and was shocked once again; heavy green bricks of American money filled the container to the seams.

While Maya ogled the money of his arms Nick dumbly tried to calculate how much it would be when it was converted into yens, he was no math whiz so he couldn't come up with an accurate number but logically since the American dollar was the basis every other currency was measured against he knew he had a small fortune in his arms. "Do we have your services" the wild man asked, snapping Nick out of his reverie "Um…that is…um…"Nick felt completely overwhelmed by what was going on, luckily Maya had somehow managed to keep her head level "We'll do it" she chirped excitedly "When do we start?" "Right now, c'mon" the man replied grabbing Nick's arm and dragging him outside where a huge limousine waited on the curb. All of them clambered in; Maya, the translator, the refined gentleman, and he were stuffed into the back. "_The courthouse please_" the refined gentleman barked to the driver before pouring several glasses of champagne which he distributed amongst the group. Frustrated with the dead ends his mind was bouncing off of Nick sighed angrily "Will someone please tell us what is going on?" The translator grunted emptying his glass with one rude gulp before doing just that.

Nick had been in interrogation rooms before but never with a so called super hero. He had defended an actor who had played a super hero before sure but this was an actual super hero or so Logan claimed. As the pajama man sat tiredly down in his chair Nick took the liberty of closing his eyes and reviewing the deluge of information Logan had given him as they drove to the courthouse.

**Court Summary**

Spider-Man has been accused of aiding the zombies in their attack of New York City. His accuser is Jay Jonah Jameson who is the editor of the Daily Bugle. It's my job to clear the defendant of his crimes.

**Court Record: Evidence **

Attorney's Badge: This badge proves that I'm an attorney. Whenever I look at it I feel fulfilled.

Magatama: A mystic jewel that allows me to see the truth in a person's heart. It was given to me by Maya.

**Court Record: Profiles**

Maya: My friend and a medium in training. She's able to channel the dead.

Logan L. Logan: Our translator working for Stark. He seems to know the defendant…

Tony Stark: The CEO of Stark industries who hired us to defend Spider-Man. He seems to know the defendant…

Spider-Man: Our client who is being accused of aiding the zombie attack on New York City. He is apparently a super hero, not that I believe it for a second.

Jay Jonah Jameson: Also goes by the moniker JJ. The editor of a large newspaper and the one taking our client to prison. He is a very vocal man.

The guy in front of Nick was dressed in a crazy suit made up of red and blue with a mask that has two large, white ovals that probably are what allows him to see. With them in the room is Logan who is acting as a translator between Nick and his client. Both Maya and Stark are looking in through the observatory window made up of one sided glass on the right wall of the room. "Hello my name is Phoenix Wright and I will be your lawyer for the upcoming trial." He said introducing himself the way he did with every client he had defended. Turning to Spider-Man Logan translated for him to causing Nick to frown a bit, this trial was only going to get trickier with that language barrier in the way. "_He's your lawyer, his name's Phoenix Wright_" Logan said which made his client eye the lawyer warily "_Want to explain to me why Stark got me one lawyer who doesn't even speak English over the best law firm in the city?_" Spider-Man asked crossing his arms grumpily "I _didn't call for Tony for his advice on what suit to buy for the trial_." "_Look kid, your biggest fan bought all the lawyers in the city of New York and the surrounding suburbs._" Logan explained gruffly "_Unless they were small time kids who just graduated law school or the ham and egg guys who deal with divorces JJ had them so well plied with money and favors not even the crown prince of Stark Enterprises could get them to defend you except that one, deal with it._"

Nick watched the entire conversation with the look of someone who didn't speak the language but wanted to be a part of it, out of either curiosity or politeness. Spider-Man slunk back in his chair dejected "_I need to win this Logan, if I don't they get to de-mask me and while I can handle that MJ can't. Who knows what sort of whack job I sent to the slammer would go after her to get back at me?_" Logan just smirked "_Listen kid, if that wimp lawyer over there can't cut the mustard the minute that judge says guilty I'll rip the courthouse apart. Ain't no way in hell you're getting de-masked, not while I'm around._" Turning to the aforementioned wimpy lawyer Logan gestured to the client "He's happy to meet you and wants to know if you have any questions" "Um...yes, does Mr. Spider-Man know the breadth and width of what he is being accused of?" Logan nodded without even consulting with the client "Anything else?" "Does the client know the person accusing him?" Another nod from his translator "Yeah, this guy's been after Spider-Man for years, he carries one hell of a grudge against the guy too."

Nick frowned, if the accuser was well known for hating his client, what possible evidence did he have that condemned his client without making the accuser look like he was attempting slander? He posed the question to Logan "_Hey kid, you wouldn't happen to know what JJ's got on you, do you_?" "_From what Deadpool told me JJ has gotten hold of some kind of pictures that show I helped the zombie attack_" Spidey replied "_Doctored for sure, so they shouldn't be too hard to disprove_." "_Don't get too hopeful kid, JJ's not the brightest bulb in the box but he wouldn't go to court unless he had something concrete to work with_." He turned to Nick "From what he knows JJ, the guy accusing him, has some pictures that apparently show him helping with the zombie attack." The lawyer's frown deepened quite bit, a picture was worth a thousand words and that was true ten times over in a court of law. "The kid claims they were doctored and I know for a fact they are." Nick sat back in his chair rubbing his temples, unless he could definitively prove they were doctored they would inevitably leave a psychological impression on the judge. The longer they sat there without being disproven the more likely the judge would become biased towards the prosecution's side; he had seen it happen before to devastating effect.

His mind wheeled feverishly with how to deal with those photos. "How long until the trial" he asked Logan hoping there were a few more hours until then to allow for some evidence digging. "It starts in a half hour" Logan muttered back looking at the clock on the wall of the interrogation room, it read 7:30 a.m. Grimacing Nick scratched out his plan for finding contradicting evidence for now, later he would hopefully have some time to sniff around. Instead he set his mind on a different track, how to get the court to adjourn long enough to give him enough time to gather evidence. On an instinct he guessed that JJ would want to railroad the trial straight into a verdict on his pictures alone which was both a problem and a blessing. The speed at which the trial had been set up meant that little other evidence would be gathered during it forcing the prosecution to rely on whatever evidence it initially used to build the case. With the right piece of counter evidence as well as some speed he could effectively nullify their blitzkrieg using their initial hastiness to lead to his own sought after verdict of 'not guilty'. The problem was how to delay the court proceedings, it would be sloppy but Nick hoped the judge supervising the hearing would be neutral to both prospective parties.

Nodding in agreement with himself Nick stood up offering his hand to his client "Don't worry, as long as you're innocent we'll get a 'not guilty' for sure" he promised hoping to heaven he would be able to keep that it. Logan translated his sentiment before turning to Nick glowering at him like a feral animal "You better keep that little promise of your or I'll cut your tongue out." Paling Nick nodded fervently steeping aside for the short brute to exit the room while his client was escorted by a judge back to his cell until the trial started. The lawyer stepped out of the interrogation room with a massive sigh watching the receding back of Logan and Stark as they retreated into the courtroom talking quietly to one another. "Isn't this so exciting Nick?" Maya gushed popping up at his side "An accused superhero, his number one detractor, all within the city limits of the Big Apple. This is the best case ever!" Her friend wasn't as optimistic as she was "It's going to be tough though, I have no real idea of who my client is or his relationship with the public, there is the whole language barrier as well." Annoyed with her companion's downer attitude, she smacked him in the head "Please, you've had harder cases then this; not to mention you know for sure that your client is blameless, the evidence will prove it." Nick looked at her quizzically "How do you know he's innocent?" Maya rolled her eyes like if it was the most obvious thing in the world "Cause he's a super hero, duh. They never do anything to harm the innocent masses they've sworn to protect. With great power comes great responsibility." In return Nick rolled his own eyes "Could we get any cheesier, Maya?"

The half hour dwindled quickly and soon Nick and his client as well as Logan were seated at the table near the judge's stand with the accuser shooting them death glares at the pair of them. "_Hey crazy hair lawyer guy, I'll give you double whatever Stark paid you if you ditch that Spider menace right now_" he yelled ignorant of the language barrier "_Are you deaf or something, wing hair_?" Leaning over to his translator Nick whispered "What is he saying?" "He's wishing you good luck" Logan told him "Ok…" Nick replied unsure of what to say, he felt like Logan was lying "Tell him thanks for me then." Turning his head to one side he barked at JJ "_He said shut your damn piehole, asshole_." The editor turned a vivid shade of red and was about to explode but mercifully the baliff cut him off screaming "_All rise for the honorable judge Laverne Wexler_." All in the courtroom jumped up in attendance as the judge entered the room. She was a tall black woman in her late forties, early fifties with long braids of hair cascading down her back; she took her seat and scanned the room. Her face was taut with the look of a professional while her brown eyes glittered intelligently behind her slim frames. "_You may be seated_" she called out allowing the audience to seat themselves with the accompanying whoosh of air that always happens when a group sits down simultaneously.

"_This is case number 543125784 The state vs Spider-Man_" she proclaimed in a deep alto as she read the file on her stand "_Are both sides prepared to argue their cases_?" After a quick translation by Logan Nick nodded as emphatically as he could "We are your honor." After a quick translation the brow lifted her eyebrow quizzically "_Mr. Spider-Man is there a good reason why your lawyer is jabbering in Japanese?_" "_He was the only one I could get on such short a notice you honor_" his client replied shooting a venomous look at Stark who merely shrugged nonchalantly. Laverne pursed her lips "_This is highly unusual but seeing as how his credentials check out and there is no law preventing a non-English speaking lawyer from acting on behalf of the accused I will let it slide_." Turning to the prosecution's table her eyes narrowed "_I do have umbrage with the prosecution having forgotten that in this great country the accused may defend themselves the prosecution most certainly cannot be without legal counsel_." JJ was not put off in the least by the death glare "_Don't you worry your honor my lawyer will be here shortly_." The judge gave an amused little smile "_Trust me sir I'm not worried in the slightest, you however should be. Without a lawyer acting on behalf on the prosecution this trial is a farce and I cannot condone dragging it onward_."

Raising her gavel she prepared to end the trial prematurely giving Nick a glimmer of hope he might be able to win this one via presence alone "_I hereby-_" A large crack stopped the judge short and made Nick's heart sink, he knew that sound from the depths of his nightmares. "_Your honor the prosecution, Franziska von Karma is here and ready to proceed with the trial_." The well-dressed lawyer strutted down the aisle basking in the radiant glow of the massive amount of paparazzi present who were snapping her photo for tomorrow's tabloids. While the masses were enthralled with her dynamic entry the judge was not "_I pray for your sake honey you have got a hell of a reason for waltzing in here to my courthouse fashionably late_." "_Please forgive my late arrival your honor. My plane just landed from my home country of Germany and I rushed to make it here_" Franziska replied in perfect English bowing her head meekly "_Please do not cancel this justified trial because of my negligence_." Looking about the courtroom Laverne could see all of the reporters' pens poised on their notepads, would tomorrow's headline be the verdict or the declaration that the judge had thrown out the case due to a thin breach of etiquette. Pressured by the stares of the audience she lowered her gavel to the side of her stand "_Very well but be warned, you are not in my good graces_." Franziska smiled serenely at the judge before turning her head and hammering a crestfallen Nick with a snotty, little smirk. 'Of course it would be Franziska' he thought glumly watching her caress the hilt of her whip knowing that soon it would be smashing into his backside.

"_Very well, the trial shall commence here and now_" the judge cried nagging her gavel to silence the murmuring of those relieved that the trial would commence "_The prosecution will step forward_." Franziska took the floor oozing confidence "_Your honor we are here today to plead for justice_." Dramatically she whipped her entire right arm forward; her index finger pointed straight at Spider-Man "_This man has conspired with malevolent forces to destroy your beloved city for no reason other than to please the evil leeching out of his heart. Look upon him my fellow human beings at this monstrosity who claims to do heroic things yet hides himself under a gaudy mask hoping to fool you into a sense of security. Will you allow this monster to roam the streets unfettered as your loved ones suffer from his necrotic ambitions?_" The entire audience behind Nick answered her "_No_!" thundering with applause from her delightfully patriotic speech. Franziska ended with a bow to the judge before taking her seat next to a beaming JJ.

The judge's eyes swiveled about until they landed on poor Nick "_The defense may step forward with their opening statements_" Together Nick and Logan stepped up towards the judge's stand which sent a sickening twist of panic slaloming down Nick's gut, everything he said would come out of Logan's mouth. The gruff looking man would then stand as the visual representative of Nick's words, something the poor lawyer really wished he could change. Clearing his throat he began "How accurate can one judge a man by the color of his clothes, the curl of his cuffs, the fit of his pants? We ask those in attendance to reflect on this question as this event unfolds. Spider-Man may be masked but no garment can conceal the heart of a hero which beats within him. Our client would never betray those he has sworn to protect and we pray fervently that those in attendance here today would judge though the action of this great hero instead of by the mysteries hidden by his mask."

Much to his dour predication the audience was not nearly as moved by his speech as they were Franziska's. There was the psychological xenophobia of being addressed by someone who was different from you which doubled thanks to the language barrier and tripled because it came from the rough, uncultured voice of Logan. In Nick's eyes he might as well have growled the whole thing at them for how much effect it had not to mention balefully coloring any and all impact his words would have in the future. Once Logan was through the pair returned to their table, Spider-Man gave him a weak thumbs up; not out of any selflessness of supporting a fellow human being but to ensure that his lawyer wouldn't lose all his morale and head for the hills. "_The prosecution may now call their witness_" the judge proclaimed following protocol.

Facing the judge Franziska gestured to the empty witness stand "_You honor the prosecution presents their first witness_." With all the energy and vitality of a kid on Christmas morning JJ jumped out of his chair and rushed over to the witness stand the joy bubbling from out his very being. "_Your name and occupation please_" Franziska asked following procedure. "_The name's Jay Jonah Jameson and I'm the editor and chief of the Daily Bugle_" the man said with a grin that stretched from ear to ear "_And that masked man sitting there is a menace to society._" Laverne smashed her gavel down _"Mr. Jameson please do not make a statement unless you are asked a question_" she chided him. "_S-sorry_" he replied looking a bit put off by the judge's admonishment. "_Please continue Ms. Franziska_" The sadistic lawyer gave her client a discreet, sharp look to warn him of any more outbursts "_Mr. Jameson you are here because you feel that the defendant, Mr. Spider-Man, has made multiple attempts to inflict chaos on the great city of New York correct?_" Jameson paused a bit, the warning still fresh in his mind, and gazed up at the judge questioningly. She gave a slight nod in confirmation "_Yes, that's correct_" he spoke slightly unsure of the proper length of time he should be talking for.

"_And you feel that this Spider-Man has recently attempted to attack the populace of New York City by aiding and abetting the criminal or criminals who saw fit to flood the entire downtown with zombies?_" Franziska continued prompting Jameson to reply. "_Yes, that's correct_" the editor replied more confident this time, he was about to elucidate his statement further but a quick shake of his lawyer's head made him shut his mouth quietly. "Do _you have proof that Spider-Man committed these crimes_?" the judge asked. "_We do your honor_" and with that Franziska returned to her desk grabbing a manila envelope from inside her briefcase. She fished out three packets and distributed them, one to the judge, she placed one on a projector to show the audience, and she gave one grudgingly to Nick. 'Here it is' Nick thought noting the glossy sheen on the papers in his hands 'this is going to make the case or break the case.'

There were three pictures in all, 8x10 glossies, of Spider-Man presumably causing chaos during the zombie attack. The first one was Spider-Man having just landed from one of his super hero jumps, his figure crouched as it braced for the impact. The photo had been snapped perfectly, it showed him the minute he landed on top of a police car denting its hood. A few inches to the side was a terrified police officer who had dropped her weapon from the sudden encounter with the web slinger. Behind them was a mass of the undead bearing down on the pair from a few feet away. The entire picture seemed to support that Spider-Man had been out and about on that day crippling police forces while leading zombies to easy prey. ' Ok, this is bad but I can work around this' Nick thought studying the photo critically 'It's a matter of perspective really, maybe my client was trying to get the police officer out of danger as she was being assaulted by the undead.' It was weak but it was the best way to rebuff the picture if the worst case scenario happened.

The second photo would be much harder to work around, it was another 8x10 glossy showing a stranded civilian in the midst of a mass of a hungry horde of zombies. The poor sap in particular was swinging upside down suspended from a lamppost like a piñata with several zombie faces jutting in from the edges of the photograph slavering at the easy meal. The camera angle was surprisingly low, as if the photographer had been lying on his belly on the sidewalk to take this particular picture. The angle did wonders though; the sheer terror on the victim's face was evident as well as what had entangled him to the lamppost. Silky strands of Spider-Man's signature web fluid cocooned the man's body leaving him as helpless as a slab of meat in a slaughterhouse. 'Ouch' Nick thought flinching at how damning the photograph was 'Yeah, I really hope we don't have to slug this out in court today.'

The third and final photograph blew the other two out of the water with how shocking it was. Spider-Man could be seen standing on top of the edge of a roof pointing heroically at something at the edge of the photograph. Following the angle of his gesture the human eye was drawn to the bottommost right edge of the photo graph where a small family lay huddled in the corner of an alley. Even though the focus was not as great the fear on their faces still radiated through the picture. Their fear was due to the horde of zombies stalking upon them from the bottommost left corner making the entire picture look like Spider-Man was pointing out survivors to his undead friend. It was pretty damning if the audible outbursts of noise from the audience was anything to measure each picture by. 'Stick a fork in me, we're done' Nick thought helplessly understanding far too well what sort of impact it would have on any person who saw it.

The room began to crescendo with voices of outrage and the shuffling of the audience, it was clear they were being roused into actions by the photos being shown on the projector screen. Before it could become a problem the judge smashed her gavel down "_I will have order in my court_" she demanded shutting everyone up immediately. On a roll Franziska began to quickly lay down the foundation of her argument "_Mr. Jameson, where did you get these pictures_?" "_A freelance photographer took them for me_" Jameson replied brimming with confidence "_A real photographic genius this one, I plan to give him a full time job after the work he did here_." "_Please just stick to the question Mr. Jameson_" his lawyer warned him gripping her whip so it gave a barely audible squeak of well-polished leather. Jameson colored a bit but remained quiet "_Why did you obtain these pictures_?" the editor cleared his throat to regain his poise before replying "_I got them for my newspaper." _

Franziska nodded in understanding "_You're obviously a patriotic citizen of your country Mr. Jameson_" she turned to the judge "_That'll be all you honor_." The prosecutor returned to her seat as the judge turned to Nick "_Your witness Mr. Wright_." Nervously Nick swallowed as he and Logan stepped up to the witness stand. Jameson shot the defense attorney a look that oozed absolute confidence, his evidence couldn't possibly be overturned. "Mr. Jameson, do you and your newspaper seek the truth?" Nick asked forced to wait a second as Logan translated his question. JJ looked put off by the question "_Of course it does, the Daily Bugle is objective in its search for the truth_" The judge banged her gavel lightly but firmly to remind JJ to keep his answers brief and to the point which was something Nick hoped the editor wouldn't listen to. Nick cupped his chin with the palm of his right hand "Odd considering these photos don't look like they're on the up and up." He had an idea in mind to get the court to adjourn for the day but in typical Phoenix Wright style he was accumulating it by the seat of his pants.

His accusation sent a faint ripple of intrigue amongst the audience in the courthouse which was promptly drowned out by JJ screech of indignity. "_How dare you accuse me and my paper of slander, boy_" the Editor screamed waving his arms in the air in a wrathful fashion "_I'll have you know that the Daily Bugle puts nothing in her papers that ain't the honest truth_." The judge slammed her gavel down hard "_Mr. Jameson I have warned you once before about outbursts in my courthouse yet apparently I wasn't clear enough. If you don't calm yo tits down and answer the defense's question in a calm and concise manner there will be consequences_." She leaned over until her mouth was inches away from his ear "_Am I making myself clear to you, candy ass_?" JJ was as stiff as a board, red as a campfire with his lips clenched down as hard as he could unable to so much as look at the judge lest he lose his temper. "_Yes, ma'am_" he grumbled between his lips taking great pains to control his temper.

Settling back her seat the judge calmed her ruffled feathers before gesturing at Nick "_Answer the defense's query_." Humbled but bitter JJ gripped the stand in front of him with white knuckles "_The photos have not been doctored in any way_." The room seemed to fade for a second as Nick felt a warm thrum coming from the pocket of his suit jacket 'My Magatama' he thought excitedly 'He's lying!' Palming the mysterious jewel Phoenix asked "Could you repeat that please?"

"**The photos have not been tampered with in any way." **

Nick watched as a mass of chains swallowed JJ in their steely might obscuring much of his being with their links. As they rattled ominously three key locks attached themselves to the chains binding the entire mess. The Magatama Phoenix wielded had been in cared for by a family of Mystics whose generations stretched back for centuries. His friend Maya and mentor Mia had been a part of that family; they could channel the dead who helped lead Nick to critical pieces of evidence in the past. The Magatama was able to react to lies hidden within the hearts of men and, with the right amount of evidence; it could bust open the locks holding the chains together forcing the liar to reveal the truth. 'JJ's lying, the photos were tampered with' Nick mused studying the locks glinting before him temptingly 'All I got to do is figure out how to prove they're of bullshit.'

Keeping his grip of the divine jewel Nick began his rebuttal "I don't believe you.' JJ looked shocked at first then got red again but a quick glance at the judge made him keep his cool. "_You calling me a liar, boy_" he asked in a low threatening tone. Nick nodded resolutely "These photos you claim are the whole and absolute truth are in reality full of lies meant to slander my client's reputation." The audience was quick to react with more surprise, the judge quick to try and silence them but all were left in the dust by Franziska who reacted to Nick's statement like grease lightning. The crack of the whip was simultaneous with its sting causing Nick to straighten up in pain as the lash stung the small of his back. "_Objection_" Franziska shouted retracting her whip so it coiled back into her hand effortlessly "_What proof does the defense have that my client is lying_?" Choosing not to notice the fact the prosecution had attacked the defense the judge glanced down at Nick "_That's a good point Mr. Wright, how do you plan on proving that Mr. Jameson is lying_?" The hapless attorney mentally flailed for a moment 'Crap, what do I have to work with here?'

**Court Record: Evidence **

Attorney's Badge: This badge proves that I'm an attorney. Whenever I look at it I feel fulfilled

Magatama: A mystic jewel that allows me to see the truth in a person's heart. It was given to me by Maya

Jameson's Photos: The prosecution's star evidence. They show Spider-Man abetting zombies

'I bet somewhere in these photos there is a mistake' Nick thought as he shuffled through them 'JJ is lying, I know that but which one had the mistake in it?'

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3 

**Take that!**

With a dramatic slam of his hand Nick smashed the third photo, the one showing Spider-Man and the unfortunate family, down onto the witness stand. "This photo is obviously doctored!" Jameson scoffed and crossed his arms across his chest "_How so_" he demanded. "Um…well…" Nick fought to find something substantial to remark upon as he looked at the photo. "The angle…uh…way too high how is the average cameraman able to fly in order to take this photo?" Humming with disproval the judge examined the photo "_I know where this is; your client is on the Westbrooke building near the center of downtown. Any old cameraman would have been able take the elevator into the neighboring building's lounge and snap the photo from the lounge's observation window_." She lowered the photo, a manicured finger pointing to a spot near the upper edge of the photo "_Here, there's a streak of light proving it was taken from a window_." Nick backpedaled at being proven wrong; behind him he could hear the guffaws of the audience at his lack of observational skills.

"_Mr. Wright, look at me_" the judge instructed and Nick meekly complied. He looked eyes with her and nearly wet himself, her gaze looked slightly demonic. "_In this courtroom I do not allow two things, impulsive outbursts and baseless accusations. If you can't prove that Mr. Jameson is lying them please keep your gob shut thank you very much_" she said rounding on him. 'Ergh, that's strike one' Nick thought knowing from prior experience grating on the judge's nerves anymore was going to land him and his client in hot water. 'Still I'm not wrong' he thought studying the other two photos 'One of these has to have some kind of flaw in it I can expose.'

Photo 1

Photo 2 

Retract statement

**Take that!**

"This photo has obviously been tampered with" Nick proclaimed waving it in the air which earned him a giggle from Franziska. "Do you have proof of that" she asked in flawless Japanese smug with the knowledge her most grating nemesis was blowing hot air again. "As a matter of fact I can" Nick proclaimed shooting her a confident grin that made her turn red with fury. Ignoring her, Nick turned to the judge and placed his copy of the second photograph, the one with the man tied to the lamppost, on the judge's table. "You see here" the defense attorney explained pointing at the man's face "To get this angle the photographer must have been laying on his belly. What person in their right mind would lie down in the midst of a crowd of the undead to snap a picture?" The judge and audience studied the picture intensely while JJ gave a guffaw "_Boy you sure can be a real idiot at times, why don't you just give up and go back to your rice paddies_?" The editor expected his joke to resonate with the crowd but as the seconds ticked on he realized that they were beginning to doubt the photo.

"_That's an excellent point Mr. Wright_" the judge stated causing Nick to beam and Franziska to grimace "_I'm no camera buff but even a yeoman like me can see whoever took this was lying down and who the hell would do that_?" She turned to JJ drilling a powerful look into him "_Can you please explain this Mr. Jameson_?" The editor's earlier confident demeanor shattered, his mouth hung open while he tried to come up with a solution."_Well…er…gee you know…um_" he stumbled scratching the back of his head like a fool, luckily Franziska managed to save his bacon. "_Objection_!" she shouted pointing an index finger at Nick "_I don't see how this has anything to do with the fact that man is guilty. The defense is clearly attempting to waste the court's time speculating over nitpicky details_." "Objection!" Nick jockeyed back with his own index finger thrust "How this photo was taken is inconsistent with the accuser's statement that all these photos are objectively true." "_Objection_!" the prosecution screeched using her whip to beat Nick aside as she strolled up to the judge's stand "_The evidence is right here, that man should be jailed and if the defense cannot bring forth its own concrete evidence to counter it then this trial should be concluded here and now!_"

Bracing himself against the whip's lash Phoenix piped up "I'd like to call to attention the fact that the accuser has been carrying a grudge against my client for several years now!" "How dare you Mr. Wright" Franziska cried raising her weapon to assault him again but her arm was caught at the height of its reach by Logan's hand. "_Get off of me you brute_" she screamed struggling to get out of the wild man's grip but he easily endured all the physical blows she hit him with. The judge's gavel rang down a multitude of times "_I will have order in my court! The prosecution and defense will return to their seats for the duration._" Defeated Franziska slunk back to her corner while Nick and Logan returned to theirs. "Feisty little minx, huh" Logan commented evenly appraising the German prosecutor with his gaze. "You could say that" Nick grumbled rubbing whatever lash wounds he could touch slightly bitter that Logan hadn't intercepted her earlier.

The court sat restlessly for several minutes as Laverne studied picture number two, the entire duration of which JJ sat in the witness box looking utterly alone while sweating it out. On a whim Nick checked his Magatama, none of the locks had been broken unfortunately but the chains had been rattled quite fiercely. 'I got close to breaking one of them' Nick thought strategically 'I'm going to need some hard evidence though.' Eventually the judge looked down at Franziska "_Is the photographer here in court_?" The lawyer shook her head no "_I didn't think we would need his testimony for such an open and shut case_" she admitted shrugging "_Is there a reason to ask the poor man to take time out of his undoubtedly busy schedule to come here and summarize what we have gone over_?" "_I believe there is, for now court is adjourned until bright and early tomorrow_." She slammed her gavel down and Nick could have jumped for joy at the sound it made "_I want this photographer here tomorrow in the witness stand. In the meantime I will personally get an expert to verify these are in fact the real deal_."

He wasn't out of the woods yet, not by a long shot, but Nick had managed to avoid the worst case scenario. The courthouse sighed with the relief of a few and the disappointment of many as all of the media had to pack up their equipment without getting the climatic verdict they had come here for. Maya ran up behind Nick from her position in the courthouse seats and jumped onto his back jubilantly. "Woo-hoo" she cried hugging him happily "You did it, you managed to buy us time!""Owowowowowowowowow" the poor attorney cried cringing from all the sore lash wounds Maya was prodding" Yeah, it's great, please get off my back!" The mystic jumped off twirling around excitedly "Where do we start then?" Before Nick could reply the crack of a lash and the subsequent pain turned his reply into a howl. "Foolish fool!" Franziska denounced walking over to their table "You foolishly think this changes anything? Fool!" Beating her whip into a tattoo she made the poor attorney dance about trying to dodge her attacks "Buy all the time your foolish little heart foolishly desires. It matters not for I, Franziska von Karma, shall not be beaten by you fools again!" With one final crack she sent him down into the fetal position and stormed out of the courtroom whipping aside any unfortunate paparazzi still standing in her way.

"_And here I thought court was all about two old guys quibbling about taxes_" Stark commented looking at Nick writhing on the floor in pain with amusement "_With less clothing this could have been a lovely pornography piece_." "_Can the fetish talk Stark and help me pick the guy up_" Logan snapped back grabbing one of Nick's arms "_We need to discuss what the plan for tomorrow is_." Helping him gather up the emasculated attorney the trio as well as Maya, Spider-Man, and a guard returned to the interrogation room. After applying several bags of ice to his sore spots Nick began to draw up a plan "First we need to find those people who were present in those photos JJ had and see if they'll testify." Stark raised his hand in a voluntary fashion "_Leave that to me, I'll flush them out and see if any of them will be willing to come to court. I just hope JJ didn't get to them first_." The lawyer nodded before turning to Maya "To be honest I'm not really sure where to go next, it's not like there's a crime scene or something for us to examine." Spider-Man leaned over and whispered something into Logan's ear "How about the Daily Bugle" the translator offered after pausing for a second "Spidey here thinks we might be able to find some clues if we chat some of the employees up."

"That's probably not a bad idea" Nick remarked scratching his chin "Let's meet up before the trial tomorrow and discuss what we managed to find." Agreeing that was the best idea the group split into separate parts all of them wishing Spider-Man a good night as he was lead back to his cell. Outside in the blazing late morning sunlight Stark gestured to the limo waiting outside "_She's all yours for today Logan, try not to scratch her up too badly now_." Logan replied with a feral growl and a rude gesture but pushed the lawyer and his friend in all the same. The ride to the Daily Bugle's headquarters was a bit slow thanks to traffic but uneventful all the same giving the trio a chance to ruminate over the case. "Who do you think this freelance photographer is" Maya asked rummaging through the mini fridge "Does the Daily Bugle normally buy the stuff they peddle?" Logan shrugged "How the hell should I know? From what little I've heard that bastard JJ only pays for really good pictures from freelancers." Nick nodded affirmatively, that made sense considering the quality of the pictures that had been presented in court.

"He must have been fearless" Nick commented looking over the three photographs "Walking around inside a zombie invasion for a few pictures must have taken some real courage." Once they had arrived at the Daily Bugle a secretary directed them to the floor where all the photographers worked. The place was a small microcosm of controlled chaos with reporters dancing about, frantically pulling together sheets of paper and photos, writing the openings to their newspaper articles on their phones or trying to find the weasel who had stolen their yogurt from the fridge. Logan led the way, not afraid to push people out of his path while Maya and Nick trailed in his wake, unsure of where to start. Apparently their translator had an idea; he soon stopped in front of a desk in front of a large office which was covered in shades to provide sanctuary from the chaos outside. "_We're looking for Robbie Robertson_" Logan growled at the secretary behind the desk "_Parker sent us_." She nodded in affirmation before hitting the button on the intercom system in order to speak with one of her bosses.

After giving whoever she was talking to a thank you she nodded her head over to the office behind her "He's waiting for you guys inside" she informed them before returning to her work. The trio entered the office which deadened the outside cacophony to a bearable level. It was a pretty generic looking office with a desk and a computer and a planter with some personal paraphernalia about the space to give it a sense of territory. A large black man was seated behind the desk, middle aged but with whitening hair, who smiled at them in a congenial manner. "_Welcome Mr. Logan, what can I do ya for_" he asked rising out of his chair to shake their translator's hand. "Parker sent us" Logan replied gruffly "_He wants to know if you still have the pictures he sent to Jameson_." Robbie's eyes flashed mischievously "_Those two foreigners behind you wouldn't happen to be Spider-Man's lawyer and legal assistant would they_?" Logan nodded "_I don't suppose you'll help us out regardless_?" Robbie shot the man a knowing grin "_For Parker, anything. Just don't tell the boss man_."

Reaching into a side drawer of his desk he extracted a manila envelope with the name 'Parker' scrawled hastily on top "_I think you'll find this to quite helpful in tomorrow's trial_." Logan took it from the assistant editor as well as a copy of the company's paper that Robbie had grabbed from the top of his desk "_This'll seal the deal_" he remarked with a secretive wink. Logan shoved both articles into Nick's hands; the poor lawyer was trying his best to understand what the two men were talking about. "_Could you also point out who the freelance photographer is who took those photos of Spider-Man_" Logan asked oblivious to his foreign friends needs. Walking over to the door Robbie lifted the blinds with his index and middle finger scanning the colliding reporters with an expert eye. "_That's him there with the leather jacket, sitting on the desk towards the middle of the room_." All three of them peered out at the freelance photographer who had produced the damning evidence. Even from a distance they could tell he had a really laid back manner, as the room whirled around him he studied it all with a look of absolute disinterest as he sipped from a beige coffee mug. He had short dark hair and an impressively sexy five o clock shadow that really enforced that naturally good looking vibe he seemed to thrum with. Along with his leather jacket he wore underneath it a white oxford shirt with the top three buttons undone, a camera hung loosely around his neck in place of a tie. He wore jeans and some ordinary black shoes which had never seen a shine in the entire amount of time since he had bought them. He was an average man with above average good looks; that seemed to summarize him best.

"_His name's Frank West and he popped up right after the zombie attack waving his pictures around like he had won the lottery_." Robbie explained behind them "_Jonah took one look of those photographs and he was hooked. They're going to be the lead story in the day after tomorrow's news_." "_Funny, I was under the impression the old battle axe didn't give freelancers the time of day_" Logan replied looking back at Robbie who smiled "_That's the million dollar question right there. I have my suspicions but I'll let your little lawyer friend do all the deducting by himself_." "Hey look, it's Jameson and Franziska!" Maya exclaimed pointing at the door to the floor. The pair emerged arguing vividly amongst each other making their way to Frank's position. "Crap, I was hoping we could talk to him before Franziska could" Nick griped as they watched the pair lead him out of the room. "Was that desk he was sitting on his" Logan asked. "_Yes, and that's all the time I've got today to play Twenty Questions with you folk_" Robbie replied ushering them out "_I've got a newspaper to run so time is short, I wish you the best of luck_." He closed the door behind him leaving all three of them stranded amidst the reporters who weren't even dimly aware of their presence.

Logan recited his entire dialogue with Robbie which gave Nick an idea "Follow me and try to stay casual; I'm going to check out Frank's desk." Together they passed by the ignorant mass in the room until they got to the desk, while Nick rummaged about inside Maya and Logan blocked what he was doing with their bodies. Frank hadn't been with the Daily Bugle long and his desk confirmed that. Most of the drawers were empty save a few stuffed with leftover fast food wrappers or empty cartons of protein shakes. 'Please, let there be something' Nick prayed before one of the drawers refused to open, a small one located near the bottom. Wrenching it a few times he found it was tightly locked into position "Damn," Nick swore straightening back up. Logan bent down to examine the box before grinning cockily "Just give me a second." Both Nick and Maya had to suppress a gasp as a pair of bright metallic claws came out of his left hand which he then used to pick the lock. "Ommygosh, you're a super hero too" Maya gushed gazing in a amazement at his claws "That's so cool, you're helping us clear your super hero friend." Logan rolled his eyes "Listen kid, while me and Webs have worked together before we are not friends and I ain't exactly a super hero either."

Maya completely ignored this little statement as she continued to pester Logan with questions about the super hero group he was working for which he firmly denied gruffly before getting into a small argument with her over whether he was a true super hero or not, While they fought behind him Nick reached into the desk and brought forth it's only content, a pay stub that had been given to him signed by none other than Jameson. 'It's all starting to fit together' he thought, hope began to glimmer once more inside his chest 'I think I can prove he's innocent.' Logan suddenly grabbed Nick by his collar and hauled him up onto his feet "Let's get out asses into gear, JJ and his little lash lawyer are headed in our direction." Ducking down the trio maneuvered around their opposition using the chaos as a cover until they made it to the floor door. They disappeared into the elevator just in time to hear JJ roar about some sort of paystub missing from Frank's desk.

**Court Record: Evidence **

Attorney's Badge: This badge proves that I'm an attorney. Whenever I look at it I feel fulfilled.

Magatama: A mystic jewel that allows me to see the truth in a person's heart. It was given to me by Maya.

Jameson's Photos: The prosecution's star evidence. They show Spider-Man abetting zombies

Parker's Photos: Pictures taken by a Daily Bugle reporter. They seem to be quite different then Jameson's

Daily Bugle Newspaper: A newspaper received from Robbie Robertson. A picture of Spider-Man is on the front of it

Paystub: A used paystub. Apparently Frank West received a sizeable amount of money from Jameson for his photos.

**Court Record: Profiles**

Maya: My friend and a medium in training. She's able to channel the dead.

Logan L. Logan: Our translator working for Stark. He seems to know the defendant…

Tony Stark: The CEO of Stark industries who hired us to defend Spider-Man. He seems to know the defendant…

Spider-Man: Our client who is being a accused of aiding the zombie attack on New York City. He is apparently a super hero not that I believe it for a second.

Jay Jonah Jameson: Also goes by the moniker JJ. The editor of a large newspaper and the one taking our client to prison, a very vocal man

Franziska von Karma: The vengeance seeking daughter of my greatest foe. A formidable prosecutor and a staple in my nightmares

Robbie Robertson: Co-editor of the Daily Bugle. Is much more reasonable than his boss

Frank West: A freelance photographer who sold photos to JJ.

After a good night's sleep Nick was back at the defense's table ready and waiting to put this sham of a trial to rest. The first matter of business attended to was the conclusion over whether the pictures Franziska had presented had been doctored in some way. Predictably the expert Laverne had consulted had come back with a resounding yes; the photos were not doctored in any way despite the weird angle of the second photograph. Wanting to hammer this particular point home Franziska immediately called Frank up onto the witness stand in order to get his testimony."_State your name and occupation_" she instructed gazing warily at the witness as if he were dynamite. The man gave a relaxed smile before propping his feet up on the witness' stand "_Name's Frank West, freelance photographer. I've covered wars ya know_?" The judge slammed her gavel down with a fury "_Mr. West I hate to break this to you but this is a courtroom not a stripper's bar. Get yer Bigfoot feet off the witness stand and behave yourself or I will throw you and yer testimony out on its skinny white backside, Am I making myself clear_?" Startled by the judge's intimidating stare Frank lowered his feet meekly to the floor and gave a whimpering "_Sorry your honor_."

It dawned on Nick that Franziska was nervous because of how whimsical her witness could be 'Chuckle while you can' that cynical part in the back of his mind hissed 'After all once she's done we're going to have to break him in the cross examination.' "_Mr. West, you said you are a freelance photographer correct? Did you sell any of your photos to Mr. Jameson_?" the prosecution asked trying to get back on track. "_Yep, that I did_" West replied recovering quickly from his chiding "_There were three of them in all and after a little of the old West charm I managed to get ole JJ to buy them from me. Wish I had known they were this important though, I would have charged more_." He gave a small laugh before the judge's gavel scared him back into silence. Grabbing her copies of the pictures Franziska laid them out in front of the photographer "_Are these the ones you took and sold to Mr. Jameson_?" she asked. Frank barely even glanced at them "_Yes sir, those are mine alright! High quality stuff wouldn't you say_?"

'Indeed' Nick thought looking at picture number two, hopefully this would be all that he needed to shoot hole in Frank's testimony. "_Finally, Mr. West, are all these photos objectively true_?" Franziska asked cutting to the heart of the matter. "_Absolutely, I didn't sell anything that wasn't caught in its natural state with this here camera_" Frank stated hoisting the device around his neck up in pride. The prosecution nodded thoughtfully "_No further questions your honor_." Nick eyed the modern day cowboy in front of him warily; the man seemed to be staring past him passively as if the defense was invisible to him. " , you claim that all these photos were not altered from their original state in any way?" Nick asked, for once he was grateful it was Logan who was translating for he added an edge of threat to the translation that made Frank jump a bit. "_I just said that didn't I_" Frank shot back looking miffed "_Ain't nothing that leaves my hands that ain't the honest truth, plain and simple_." He could feel a shuffling behind him, probably Franziska moving her seat out of apprehension. "Very well then" the attorney replied grabbing something in his suit pocket "How do you explain, this?"

Photo 1

Photo 2 

Photo 3

**Take that! **

He placed picture two on the table in front of Frank who stared at it without any fear 'Not good' Nick thought studying the witness' facial features thoroughly. "This photo was taken from an angle that would have required you to be lying on your belly while surrounded by hungry zombies. I ask the court, does this man look insane enough pursue something like?" Nick strained to listen closely above the crescendo of noise from the peanut gallery, there would be one particular sound that would clue him in to how close to the truth he was. Yet it didn't come, in the past whenever he had been pounding down Franziska's evidence he had been forced to endure stinging assaults from her mouth and her whip. The fact she remained quiet was sinister. After getting her court back under order the judge appraised Frank "_I agree with the defense, this doesn't seem to be on the up and up, care to explain your methods Mr. West_?" The man gave a huge cocky grin "_Well sure, this ain't my first rodeo and I got this feeling it'll be far from my last._"

Within an appallingly short amount of time Nick found himself strung up a few feet above the ground. Franziska's whip was wrapped around his middle keeping him aloft with the rest of its length across one of the ceiling rafters to give him the lift he needed. Franziska acted as a weight to keep him from falling back on the ground while Logan, Stark, Maya and Jameson had all been recruited to be zombies. Satisfied that this little simulacrum would be enough to provide evidence of his technique and skill Frank backed himself into one of the court's corners. 'How do I get into things like this?' Nick wondered dourly knowing full the danger of being forced to rely on the sadistic Franziska von Karma for anything. "_See you honor, this is how I took that photo' Frank explained 'I'm well known for my dynamic photography as well as the dangerous situations I've thrown myself in to get the shots I need. I've covered wars ya know? When you're dealing with angry Taliban or slavering zombies you don't just walk up and ask for a picture, you take one like this_!"

With a running start he dodged around Maya and Logan with ease before entering into a back slide during which he snapped a photograph of a nonplussed Nick. With a grunt he shot back onto his feet using the slide's inertia to get enough air to clear Stark and Jameson easily. He landed on his feet with the grace of an Olympic gymnast causing everyone to clap in awe for his talents. The photo spat out of the camera, Frank swaggered forward waving it back and forth to get it to develop quicker before presenting it to the judge. "_A Frank photograph your honor, no one does it better_" he crowed, crossing his arms and leaning on the witness stand's box, confident of his skills. Pursuing it with a critical eye Laverne studied it, and then picture two, then the pair together "_I must admit I didn't think it was possible but Mr. Frank is telling the truth_." Handing them over to the bailiff he walked about showing everyone who was interested the photographs side by side, they were almost identical. Taking into account natural human margin as well as a few other factors the photographs showed the exact same thing, a hostage being bound from above with hungry zombies about them, the perspective and angle were completely similar.

"Why didn't you stop and help that guy who was being attacked" Nick asked aimlessly. "_I did, after I shot the photo I took out the zombies and lead the guy to safety_" the freelancer replied pounding his chest. "You expect me to believe you can take out zombies" Nick asked sarcastically which didn't end well for him. "_Objection_" Franziska announced letting go of her whip to perform the dramatic finger point "_What does this have anything to do with the fact my witness took that picture without altering it in the slightest_?" The judge chewed over this for a minute before slamming her gavel down "_Sustained, we are here about the pictures Mr. Wright not about whether Mr. West is capable of taking down undead foes by his lonesome_." Nick in the meantime had plummeted helplessly a few feet onto cold hard ground with a bang now that Franziska was not keeping him anchored. Climbing back onto his feet the hapless defense lawyer winced as he tried to balance on his left foot, the toes might have been broken from the fall. "I have a few more question for the witness" he said hobbling over to the stand.

Frank returned to his seat triumphantly shooting a grin at Nick that dared him to try and trip the freelancer up again. Glancing behind him the smug grin on Franziska's face mirrored that sentiment; she was sure any holes in their story had been covered up thanks to Frank's antics. "Have you ever met with Mr. Jameson before?" Frank shook his head "Nope, never saw they guy before" which triggered a reaction in the Magatama. Relief swirled within him as he brought the mystic jewel to bear in front of Frank "Could you please repeat that for me?" he asked as darkness began to envelop everything save for himself and the witness stand. Caught off guard by the otherworldly gleam of the jewel Frank reiterated

"**I've never met Jameson before I sent those pictures in." **

Chains quickly wrapped themselves around the freelance photographer's form connected by a single gleaming lock. 'He's lying' Phoenix thought, his eyes narrowing in concentration 'Is there anything I have that can prove he knew Jameson earlier?"

**Court Record: Evidence **

Attorney's Badge: This badge proves that I'm an attorney. Whenever I look at it I feel fulfilled.

Magatama: A mystic jewel that allows me to see the truth in a person's heart. It was given to me by Maya.

Jameson's Photos: The prosecution's star evidence. They show Spider-Man abetting zombies

Parker's Photos: Pictures taken by a Daily Bugle reporter. They seem to be quite different then Jameson's

Daily Bugle Newspaper: A newspaper received from Robbie Robertson. A picture of Spider-Man is on the front of it

Paystub: A used paystub. Apparently Frank West received a sizeable amount of money from Jameson for his photos.

**Take That **

** "**You claim that you haven't met Jameson before" Phoenix claimed slamming the evidence down in front of Frank "but according to this paystub you've known Mr. Jameson longer than just a few days ago." "_Objection_" Franziska roared "_The only thing evident by that paystub is the fact that Mr. West was paid for his work_." "Indeed it is" Nick concurred getting a look of utter confusion from the prosecution "Look at this date here your Honor, the day the check was issued." Passing it up to the judge Nick watched her scrutinize the evidence "_Well, well, look at this. Mr. Wright is correct; this check was written out last week_." A small cacophony of surprise arose from the courtroom's audience which required several minutes to calm down "_Mr. West, need I remind you that perjury is punishable under the law_?" the judge barked slamming her gavel down as she tried to get a hold of her courtroom. Realizing he was about to go head first into deep shit Frank backtracked quickly "_No, um, I meant to say, um, Your Honor I knew Mr. Jameson before I set in the pictures_" the freelance photographer said rubbing the back of his head "_It's just that, um, I met him face to face for the first time the day I sent him the photographs. Yeah, that's it, I only knew the guy through some phone conversations and I only really met him when I went to his office a few days ago to submit my photos_."

"Is that so" Nick commented nonchalantly "why would he be calling you and why did he give you a check for no reason, are you hiding something Mr. West?" The Magatama gleamed unleashing the full power trapped within, unable to hide the truth any longer the chains unraveled, "_Mr. Jameson called me about a week and a half ago wanting to hire me to take photos of Spider-Man_." His testimony dropped like a bomb sending a chaotic wave throughout the courtroom. The judge was banging away while Franziska screamed and whipped Nick who whined at her abuse, Maya was jumping up and down excitedly unaware that Tony was trying to sneak a peek up her robes. Finally the noise settled down allowing Franziska to rebut "_I'm sorry that I brought this man in as my witness, obviously my judgment of his character was erroneous_" she glared a Frank who looked crushed "_However this does not prove that Spider-Man was not responsible for aiding and abetting the zombie invasion_." "_It does not, but the next witness will prove without a doubt that my client was innocent_." Nick admitted before thrusting his finger forward straight at the prosecution "_Your Honor the defense calls Mr. Jay Jonah Jameson to the stand_!" The audience murmured excitedly as they waited for the editor to retake the stand, in the meantime he was arguing quietly with his lawyer over some matter.

"Mr. .Jameson if you would take the stand sometime today" Laverne ordered sarcastically prompting the editor to slink up to the witness stand. His attitude had changed completely from the day before; instead of brimming with confidence he looked harried and defensive. Bringing the Magatama to bear Nick summoned the chains and locks enveloping the editor 'Let's put this sham of a trial to bed'

**Court Record: Evidence **

Attorney's Badge: This badge proves that I'm an attorney. Whenever I look at it I feel fulfilled.

Magatama: A mystic jewel that allows me to see the truth in a person's heart. It was given to me by Maya.

Jameson's Photos: The prosecution's star evidence. They show Spider-Man abetting zombies

Parker's Photos: Pictures taken by a Daily Bugle reporter. They seem to be quite different then Jameson's

Daily Bugle Newspaper: A newspaper received from Robbie Robertson. A picture of Spider-Man is on the front of it

Paystub: A used paystub. Apparently Frank West received a sizeable amount of money from Jameson for his photos.

**Take That **

Nick presented the paystub again "Mr. Jameson, do you typically pay freelancers for photos they haven't taken yet?" The editor squirmed in his seat debating with himself for a split second "_N-no, I don't really like using some amateur's photos in my paper_." "Then why did you use Mr. West's?" Nick prodded waving the paystub lazily in the air. For a second JJ's eyes flew over the defense's shoulder looking straight at Franziska pleadingly only to get a frustrated shrug in return. "_The-the, uh, the usual guy who takes the photos, uh…_" A lock rattled and broke leaving only two more to keep the truth from getting out. "Interesting that you should mention Pater Parker" Nick interrupted reaching into his pocket.

**Court Record: Evidence **

Attorney's Badge: This badge proves that I'm an attorney. Whenever I look at it I feel fulfilled.

Magatama: A mystic jewel that allows me to see the truth in a person's heart. It was given to me by Maya.

Jameson's Photos: The prosecution's star evidence. They show Spider-Man abetting zombies

Parker's Photos: Pictures taken by a Daily Bugle reporter. They seem to be quite different then Jameson's

Daily Bugle Newspaper: A newspaper received from Robbie Robertson. A picture of Spider-Man is on the front of it

Paystub: A used paystub. Apparently Frank West received a sizeable amount of money from Jameson for his photos.

**Take That **

** "**Here are Mr. Parker's photographs" Nick said presenting the evidence "Take a good look at them." He handed them over to Laverne who looked them over with a critical eye "_If the defense could be a little more specific_" she groused "_because I don't see what you're getting at here._" "Are Mr. Parker's photos any different from Mr. Frank's?" Nick asked placing Frank's photos on the judge's stand to allow for side by side comparison. After some critical examination the judge looked at Nick "_Mr. Parker's photos are very different, Spider-Man looks like he's doing hero stuff in his while Mr. West's photos make Spider-Man look like a villain_. _It's a matter of perspective_." "It's more than that your Honor, why would Mr. Jameson get an outside photographer to take Spider-Man's pictures when he already had one who had been with him for years and was capable at that time of snapping photos of similar quality?" The room fell silent as every gaze needled JJ waiting for him to answer the question. The normally vociferous man, however, was petrified in his seat with his lips frozen into the beginning of some syllable that might erect some sort of defense. "The reason being that J Jonah Jameson wished to slander my client's reputation." Nick proclaimed shattering the second lock before the sentence had even ended.

"_Objection_" Franziska cried out "_Where is the evidence that my client is lying_?" Buried deeply within her tone was a note of panic, the prosecution lawyer had been on the receiving end of this many times and the pattern had already taken shape. Phoenix Wright was about to prove his guilty without a doubt client was in fact innocent.

**Court Record: Evidence **

Attorney's Badge: This badge proves that I'm an attorney. Whenever I look at it I feel fulfilled.

Magatama: A mystic jewel that allows me to see the truth in a person's heart. It was given to me by Maya.

Jameson's Photos: The prosecution's star evidence. They show Spider-Man abetting zombies

Parker's Photos: Pictures taken by a Daily Bugle reporter. They seem to be quite different then Jameson's

Daily Bugle Newspaper: A newspaper received from Robbie Robertson. A picture of Spider-Man is on the front of it

Paystub: A used paystub. Apparently Frank West received a sizeable amount of money from Jameson for his photos.

**Take That **

The newspaper settled noiselessly onto the witness stand but JJ looked like he had been hammered in the breadbasket repeatedly the minute it had landed. "Your Honor please note the picture used on the front page as well as those on pages A-5" Nick instructed. "_Well I'll be, one of Parker's photos is on the front page but it's all Mr. West's photos from here on out_." Laverne noted scathingly "_Is there a particular reason Mr. Jameson you didn't credit Mr. Parker's photos in this issue_?" "_Th-that's because I…uh…_" Jameson licked his dry lips trying to come up with a reason. "_I also see that there is no attempt to argue that Spider-Man is a hero using Mr. Parker's photos_" she continued folding the paper up "_Do I detect a hint of bias here_?" "_No, never, I would never try…to…_" JJ said trying to whip himself into a frenzy but his eyes were pulled towards the gem as his third and final lock shattered. Unable to resist its power JJ blurted out "_I admit it, damnit, I admit it. I hired Frank to take photos that would make Spider-Man look bad_" Before anyone could twitch Franziska tried one last gambit "_Objection, even if the photos were biased that doesn't prove that Spider-Man is not guilty of aiding the zombie invasion_."Laverne gave the lawyer a withering look "_True but your forgetting something baby, you got to have evidence to prove someone is guilty and Mr. Wright here just sank your evidence._ _You wouldn't happen to have anymore that would legitimize this trial any longer would you_?" Franziska gnashed her teeth but stayed silent prompting the judge to slam her gavel down "_Without any more evidence to convict the defendant I hereby dismiss this trial and all charges levied against him_."

The room descended into madness after that, the judge left quickly unconcerned with the noise level now that the trial was over. The paparazzi and reporters swarmed Jameson blinding him with a barrage of flashes; his heartbroken mug would be on every rag by tomorrow morning. Meanwhile Maya had glomped Nick on the back "We won" she shouted joyously "We won!" "Not bad kid" Logan remarked stroking the stubble on his chin "Didn't think you had it in you." "_Phew, thank goodness this thing is over_" Spider-Man remarked rubbing his wrists which had been freed from the cuffs "_I think I'm going to take a few days off to celebrate_" "_Actually I'd like to talk to you and Logan before you head out_" Tony whispered into his fellow English speaker's ears "_It won't take more than a minute of your time_." "_You should be grateful I'm giving you that much, bub_" Logan replied jabbing a finger into Tony's suit "And _don't think for a minute you're going to persuade us to rejoin your little Avengers_." Even though Spider-man nodded emphatically behind the hairy Canadian Tony gave a small, smug grin.

"So what are you going to do now, kid" Logan asked turning to Nick "New York's no place for wimps in blue pinstripe suits who can't speak a lick of English." "That's right" Nick muttered his joy instantly metamorphosing into a deep anxiety "We gotta finds out how we got here in the first place."Maya bopped him on the head playfully "Silly Nick, why worry about what's already happened? We've gotten out of scrapes worse than this one. Besides I always wanted to see New York and all its tourist attractions, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Cats…" The list went on and on forcing Nick to sigh dejectedly 'Of course, Maya's not taking this seriously." His angst was broken by a flutter of paper pieces smacking him in the face "What" he asked waving a hand to get rid of them. "It's confetti" Maya explained holding up a sheaf of yellow notepad paper "Gumshoe's not here so you'll have to settle for the cheap stuff." "Speaking of things you'll miss" Nick replied dodging another handful of the stuff "What about ramen. Surely you can't last more than a week without it" "Oh come on, you can't tell me that America doesn't have ramen, silly" Maya shot back blowing a raspberry "That's like saying the sky isn't blue."

While the pair argued over the state of their affairs their American acquaintances excused themselves out of the courtroom. Finding an empty interrogation room to use Tony sat down on one side of the table while his former comrades relaxed on the opposite side."I want you to rejoin the Avengers" Tony opened which immediately had Logan up on his feet headed for the door. "No chance in hell, Stark" he replied placing a meaty hand on the doorknob "I'm not that pansy ass Captain America, I actually hold grudges." The mutant slammed the door behind him prompting Spider-Man to pipe up. "I agree with Brigadier BO, as grateful as I am for helping me out of this jam you still technically almost ruined my life." "Agreed, I certainly don't expect you to forgive me Parker but I'm asking you to put your feelings aside for now" Tony crossed his arms looking Spider-Man right in the eye "Something big is going down, it's been going on for a couple of weeks now at least, and I need your help." Spider-Man stared at Tony uncertainly for a moment as if deciding whether or not to hear him out "This had better be good or I am out of here" he finally said leaning back in his chair. For the next two hours Tony spoke without so much as a muscle twitch in protest from the younger hero. At the end of it all Spider-Man lifted a hand in order to massage his temples "If you're right Stark, and I will check the math, this could be the biggest shit fest we've ever gotten into." "Do I have your cooperation then" Tony asked leaning over the table "Time is of the essence here." The hero sighed frustrated with the situation at hand but after a while he glanced back at Tony "Alright, I'll rejoin your little group but I swear the minute I smell the faintest whiff of bullshit I'm out." The two heroes shook hands in agreement before beginning to strategize.


	10. Roommates

Chapter 10: Roomates

Living with Jill Valentine was hell. Not the fire and brimstone hell that was popular in the Western Hemisphere of archetypes, the woman was many things but not neither monstrous nor unreasonable. In fact she kept mostly to herself meaning preventing Hawkeye from really getting to know the blonde other than the fact she was good with a gun. Most of her time could be split between tending to chores throughout the small apartment they had shacked up in, working out, cleaning her gun, brief fits of extremely light sleep, and extended periods of time where she seemed to drift off into her own little world. As far as roommates go she had been, from a sexless standpoint, been one of the best Hawkeye had every bunked with. From the very sexy standpoint of lying on the ground staring up at her granite like ass she was one of the worst.

Hawkeye was a simple man with simple needs, one of which was situated just south of his core and was very powerful for a simple need. Ever since he was a teen he had been in possession of a particularly difficult to sate libido which was unfortunate because he rarely had a chance to calm it with a girlfriend. His dating and subsequent marriage of Mockingbird, along with the smattering of women he had intimate relationships with after a cycle of death-rebirth had destroyed his marriage, was all he had to show for sex-wise. Normally Hawkeye would have had many more temporary lady-loves in his life but his inclusion into the Avengers, then as leader of the West Coast Avengers, had forced him to become a role model for impressionable children. Since his inclusion into a super hero outfit was often questioned thanks to the fact he had no super powers, Hawkeye had decided to abstain from sexual promiscuity to maintain some sort of super hero reputation. As such he was forced to "perform his own stunts" to help stave off the craziness borne from the sustained periods of celibacy he endured. Unfortunately all this experience with "shooting himself out of a cannon" proved to be useless thanks to raw sexiness that was Jill Valentine.

All she wore was that skin tight suit that helped her move unhindered while flaunting her marvelous figure plus it more than likely chafed making Hawkeye dream about rubbing lotion all over her. Whether it was preparing dinner, doing push-ups, or even scrubbing the toilet Jill exuded an aura of sexuality only exuded by a legendary dancer who had finished the pole routine of her life. While she had the body of a goddess the mysterious blond also had the hearing of a bat, the smallest sound could draw her attention even if she was asleep. The pizzeria apartment was small too, from where he lay in the living room Hawkeye could see the rest of the floor unobstructed leaving his horny self exposed if he began to attend to his male needs. She never left the apartment either, leaving Hawkeye under her watchful eye 24/7. Deprived of servicing himself with his hands he normally would have done it without them, it wouldn't have been half as satisfying but the poor hero had long since passed the threshold when he demanded anything that might have been a competent job. Unfortunately fate had been spiteful enough to have the boards where he was dumped in order to be medically tended to have the squeakiest floor planks he had ever come across. Breathing normally made them squeak lightly, the crescendo of hip gyrations to even supply the bare minimum amount of relief normally would have been like a heavy metal band practicing in a cave. It had literally come to the point where he was starved of release that Hawkeye began to believe that he would die of the insanity of not being able to masturbate.

Thankfully for this sad sack of hormones his lamentations over his all-consuming libido were interrupted by the arrival of the family who had lived there on the afternoon of the seventh day since the pair had decided to squat there. Having fled from the zombie invasion into the safety of a government safe house they had been detained after the invasion in order to make sure that whatever had corrupted the flesh of the undead horde was not lying dormant on their person somewhere. After a myriad of tests to assure that they weren't carriers they had been green-lit to return to their home which they wished to reclaim immediately. Jill had curtly agreed to vacate the premises after checking on Hawkeye's back injury. Once he had been cleared for moving about without any unmanageable pain he had been forced to get up and walk into the public sphere shirtless, sweaty, disheveled, with a hot girl in tow, and a an erection he was fighting like hell to contain on a visual level so that it could pass as simply being very well endowed downstairs.

The walk out of hell took about forty minutes as he led Jill to his apartment; normally it would have taken fifteen but he had to be sure that no busybody would be able to connect the dots if they saw Hawkeye enter Clint Barton's apartment. It took a bit but he did make it into his apartment without being spotted thanks to a combination of back alleys and entering from the window rather than the front door. It was while he helping the blond into his room he realized what an absolute sty his bachelor pad was. His formerly grimy discarded clothes were now rancid from being neglected for days plus his stock of food had rotted, both in the fridge as well as wherever the cartons of old Chinese food was placed. "S-sorry, I, uh, am not real good with the whole cleaning shtick" he had admitted while red as a tomato "Thanks for dropping me off at my place." He fully expected her to get out of there as fast as possible to return home but apparently the blond had other ideas. "I am currently in need of housing. Would it be acceptable to remain here for a few more days as to ascertain my position?" she asked him dully. Even if she hadn't saved his life Hawkeye would never have thrown a babe out of his house.

While the first impression of his domicile had been turned to shit (never a good thing when you're looking to impress a hot date) it had given him an excuse to get Jill out of the apartment. Writing out a list of necessities they needed to restock he had all but pushed her out the door. The minute the clack of her heels faded from his above average ear shot Hawkeye raced to the bathroom fumbling wildly with the hem of his pants. His initial jitteriness combined with the fact his legs were still recovering from a period of disuse caused him to trip over a bundle of clothes sending him face down onto the ground. For a second Hawkeye considered this as good a place as any to burst free but even under the grips of a hormonal frenzy he couldn't permit such an incredibly pleasurable event to take place in the confines of dirty clothing. Forced to wiggle out of his pants to continue Hawkeye ran across his apartment naked save for his mask as well as his shoes into the worthy sanctuary of his bathroom. Staggering into the ceramic restroom he barely had the sense to close the door behind him before sliding onto the lidded toilet seat.

Contrasting sharply with the cool aqua blue of the tiles that made up the interior of his bathroom his cock was a vivid shade of orange with a deep crimson tip. Giving a sharp exhale in appreciation for both his size as well as the blessing of being a man Hawkeye slowly lifted his right hand and grasped his dick in a firm clasp. His fingers wrapped around the shaft with just enough room to spare for each of them, he had been nursing this erection for a week leaving it in the limbo of what Hawkeye had lamely named stage two. Stage two was the canvas of the orgasm, a defined piece but lots of room to grow depending on what was used to stimulate it. Reaching awkwardly behind him with his left hand Hawkeye unclasped a small hidden tube situated behind his toilet, it had been waiting there for such an occasion as this. Uncorking the lid he coated his penis like a baker frosts pastries until his entire shaft was lubricated. The lotion had no scent; Hawkeye had always held a distain for using too much fluff in sexual activities preferring the raw smell of an orgasm to cinnamon or vanilla or whatever the hell chicks were into these days. Once used the bottle dropped uselessly to the side as Hawkeye began to stroke his cock using powerful pulls that milked every single spark of carnal electricity, the senses dulled as all energies were devoted into relaying the movements of his hand to his brain.

As he sat there in a pleasure stupor Hawkeye debated with himself on what to do with this particular erection. The sex starved part of his brain pushed that he should skip the usual formalities of an erection and get straight to the good stuff. It futilely reasoned that Jill could come back for a number of superficial reasons and the last thing they wanted was to blow a possible relationship because she found him wanking in the bathroom. The other, more mature, part of his brain scoffed at that plan pointing out that Hawkeye rarely had an opportunity to nurture such an erection thanks to his poor self-control issues when it came to masturbation. Haste makes waste, it reasoned and Hawkeye was inclined to agree.

Previous experiences had taught Hawkeye to let the erection build naturally at first; a cock could grow unaided by an outside force just fine for a time. Leaning back Hawkeye continues his long full strokes using the jittery hormones that slammed through his veins to do the bulk of the work in reaching stage three of his erection. Luckily hormones and porn could not set off an orgasm by their lonesome, a force had to enact upon the tip in order to reach a climax. Once his steaming cock had hit that threshold Hawkeye switched his grip so that his thumb was pressing down on the hot tip of his cock with the rest of his grip spread across the shaft as widely as they could. He pressed down with his thumb sending an electric tingle down his penis into his balls, the stimulation necessary if he wanted go Mt. Krakatoa. Whenever he watched porn he had to resist laughing as whoever was filming always manage to pull away from the babe early on to the male having sex with her. Before piercing her vagina with his cock he would fool around with it, no doubt keeping it erect long enough to get to that part, choosing to shake his penis like a can of soda. From a trove of experience he knew that this did nothing to help stimulate the erection, the real fuel came from the cock's tip which was hardwired to blow depending on how much stimulation it was getting.

The key to a grade A orgasm was to balance these parcels of pleasure sparks with periods of cool down periods long enough to edge away from an early ejaculation but short enough not to drop the erection entirely forcing the inexperienced bro to work it back up again from scratch. Being as experienced as he was Hawkeye was fairly accurate at predicting when he was about to vault over the edge of no return when it came to his erection but the jitteriness of his hormones made him proceed with care, the little extra boost they added could potentially ruin his fun too early. He backed off his cock tip clasping his penis with his entire right hand deciding to keep the fun going with nice long pulls of his cock like he had in the beginning. To spice things up a bit more he began to feel himself up, the hormonal jitteriness made even the most innocuous of touches was titillating. Slowly trailing the fingers of his left hand down his body he stopped to lightly massage his ripped abs which was covered in a light down of hair. Hawkeye had not been given the chance to shave for a while; typically he liked to keep the hair short and stubbly. Of course the chest hair that had managed to sprout during his week in amateur traction was dwarfed by the resurgence of pubic hair that now entangled his boner. Despite disliking too much fluff to get in the way of love making Hawkeye had found some basic manscaping to be preferable to the veritable jungles of the short and curlies he had to fight off with a bi-weekly shave to combat their weed like growth.

Ignoring the blond foliage camped about his cock he turned his attention to his nipples which he pinched to get a surge of hormonal buzz that snaked down to his core. In reaction to this his boner flexed sending small droplets of lotion down onto his balls which then slowly trailed down his scrotum spurring him on. Tired of this two bit feel up (courtesy of himself no less) Hawkeye decided to get the show on the road. Grasping his raging boner in both hands he began to relentlessly molest his cock tip with both thumbs sending a steady stream of orgasmic delight straight into his balls which began to quiver in anticipation for what was going to happen next. "Fuck yes, Fuck yes, Fuck yes….Fuck yes" he moaned scraping all the lubricant he could off his shaft into the upper parts of his palms where he could massage it directly onto his tip. He slammed his feet onto the bathtub's rim which was directly across from the toilet rubbing his booted soles onto the smooth white ceramic. He arched his back until he pushed his ass off the toilet seat completely o the point where he was standing at a diagonal slant using his feet to brace himself from falling over. His hips thrusted in the air while his fingers continued to smash his cock tip between them rubbing that beautiful nerve that was the key to everything important in this moment "Fuck yeah, ah,ah,ah,ah" words could no longer contain the deep seated pleasure that was generating from his balls, only the guttural growls of a man had a place here now.

With one last yank of his right hand he felt the sweet sensation of a volt of electricity slam through his body from toe to tip paralyzing his body for a glorious second. "Ah,ah,ah" his growling jumped up an octave as the precum spackled his calves signaling the big finish "F-Fuck!" While Hawkeye's mind swam with the glory that was the endorphins of an orgasm his cock proceeded to soot a shotgun worthy blast of sticky white stuff at the interior bathtub wall. The splatter was about two quarter's length in circumference which then proceeded to ooze down the wall slowly. This initial fire house blast was followed by several more clumps that boosted out of his cock hole; they were fat little droplets which flew in a high wide arc. With each successful orgasmic seizure this condensed cum was flung shorter and shorter with each boost until eventually Hawkeye was reduced to trying to pump the last few droplets of man cream out of his shaft. Perhaps the only thing that rivaled an orgasm was the lull right after an orgasm as the hormones continue to buzz dully and your eyes reopen from sheer delight to proudly take note of what your body had accomplished. First and foremost he mentally congratulated himself on the force and amount of cum he had initially ejaculated, he couldn't control those two things directly but it was an incredible boost to his studhood that his body was capable of such feats. Unconsciously he wiped his legs, which had been covered in cum from the rest of his orgasm, and wiped it on his steaming cock in some sort of half-hearted attempt to try the mythical double orgasm. The salty stuff mixed with the lotion creating that raw ass sex smell he was so fond of allowing him to sink deeper into a post-orgasm after glow.

Stewing in this lovely, hazy, state of mind for an immeasurable amount of time he failed to hear the door to his apartment open with little more than a light tap as the doorknob hit the wall behind it. Jill Valentine had returned bearing several bags of groceries in her arms. Looking around the room for her strange new housemate she noted that in her absence he had neglected to clean up after himself. Placing the bags on the counter she began to unload the foodstuff into the pantry while throwing out everything in there that had expired. Her normally placid mind suddenly to buzz a bit as she stocked the shelves, a memory was working its way back into her head.

"_Lunch time" she cried out entering the office space where the S.T.A.R.S did their paper work. When she had initially joined the police force she had been dumbstruck by the amount of paperwork the police had to fill out on a daily basis. The entire point of her joining the police was to avoid sitting in a chair from 9-5, she wanted to bust bad guys not write citations. Unloading the large cardboard box filled with paper bags unto the communications desk she called out for everybody again. Barry was, of course, the first to answer her call. The man loved food and hated vegetables causing him to have a small paunch despite the amount of exercise they were supposed to clock in per week. "Thanks for running down to the diner for us Jill" he said checking the contents of the bag with his name written on it with black Sharpie "My turn tomorrow, right?" Jill nodded before looking around the room "Where is the Captain and Chris?" she asked noting the absence of the two senior officers. "Captain Wesker is meeting with Chief Irons. Where do you think Chris is?" _

_ Barry rolled his eyes "If I had a nickel…" Jill passed by Barry who was already devouring his meal with two bags in her hands. The first one she sat down on Captain Wesker's desk hoping the meeting would end before the food got cold. The other bag she placed next to Rebecca Chambers, the rookie, startling her from the paperwork she was feverishly working on. "Oh, s-sorry" she said sitting up straight and saluting her senior. Jill waved her down "None of that Chambers; we're both junior officers here." Taking a moment to chat with the newest member of the team Jill pulled her chair around "How are you getting adjusted to the job?" "Oh, I'm doing well thank you" Rebecca replied giving her fellow team mate a big smile "I really like working here even if has only been two weeks or so." "I find that hard to believe, you've only gone out on patrol once" Jill replied looking at Rebecca in mock disbelief "Most of what you've done is paperwork, don't you want to nab bad guys?" Rebecca paled a bit "W-well, that's part of the job and I've trained for that sort of thing but I like paperwork. It's nice and peaceful." Jill nodded understandingly "I wish you could do mine, I hate the stuff and it never seems to end" she whined before getting up out of her chair "Hopefully they'll be a little less once that new guy joins the force." "What's his name again" Rebecca asked blushing a bit "I want to make sure he feels welcome but I've only heard it once." "It starts with an L" Jill stated unsure of herself "I think it's Lenny, or Lionel. An "Le" sort of name, Captain Wesker probably knows." _

_ Leaving Rebecca to her lunch Jill put her chair back at her desk before grabbing the last two bags on the cardboard tray and heading down the hall to the police headquarters' gym. As Barry had predicted, Chris was inside; when she opened the door she could hear the continuous grunts that rhythmically sounded off as the senior police officer bench pressed with Enrique as his spotter. "Lunch time, eh?" Enrique asked noting the bags in Jill's hands "Is one of them mine?" "Funny, I don't seem to recall you chipping in when I ran down for food" she replied lightly causing the junior officer to frown. "Sheesh, that look could freeze hell" he muttered before heading to the door "I'll be back soon Chris." The senior officer stopped his work out and sat up on the bench taking the bag from Jill "Thanks Valentine, I appreciate it." Chris said. She shrugged "No problem partner" she was still getting used to calling Chris partner, it had only been a few days ago that Chief Irons had announced the buddy system policy going into effect. To help with scheduling the chief had decided to pair everyone up according to their job experience, all junior officers were to be mentored and trained with a senior officer. _

_ It had been a big surprise that she had been paired up with Redfield, a surprise and a bit overwhelming at times. Aside from Captain Wesker it was the unanimous agreement throughout the entire department that the poster boy for S.T.A.R.S was definitely Chris Redfield. The guy was extremely dedicated to his job, he was the first to arrive and the last to leave, he rarely took any vacation days and he never called in sick, whether it was patrol or paperwork he did it without any complaint, and he was a nice guy to boot. Brad had pointed the senior police officer out to Rebecca on her first day and informed her that Chris was the next generation of perfect robotic police officers and that Chief Irons had been building a series of them to patrol the streets of Raccoon City. They had all gotten a good laugh out of that one but the sentiment was true, if there was anyone who could get anything done it was Chris Redfield. _

_ Jill joined Chris for lunch, using another bench press device as a temporary table, observing him out of the corner of her eye. He was wearing gray sweats and a matching tee-shirt which was stained with fresh sweat. Recently everyone had noticed how often Chris had been hitting the gym lately, while he had been in great shape before his biceps now rippled with cord upon cord of muscles. Jill recalled eavesdropping on a conversation between Barry and Chris as she was trying to motivate herself to do the paper work in front of her. They had been making small talk over the water cooler and the subject of hobbies had come up. Barry had asked his fellow police officer what he did for fun citing fishing as one of his favorite things to do in his spare time. Chris was a pretty private guy, no one really knew what he liked to do despite being friends with everyone in the force, so it had surprised her that he replied that he had recently taken an interest in body building. _

_ 'I wonder if Chris really is that boring' she thought meditating on that conversation as she ate her sandwich. "I have to confess, I'm not really sure about this whole partners thing" Chris suddenly spoke up putting his lunch aside for a second. Jill ducked her head in shame; she knew he was way better at being a police officer and no doubt he was a bit apprehensive about shuttling around a junior officer. "Don't worry about me" she assured him "I know I'm not at your level yet but I won't slow you down at all, promise." He looked at her in surprise "Oh no, I wasn't talking about you Valentine. You're pretty recent but I can already see you've got loads of talent. I'm not worried at all about you slowing me down, quite the opposite in fact." He sighed and rubbed his head sending small droplets of sweat everywhere "It's me that I'm worried about. I've always done my police work solo. I can't help but be concerned over my lack of experience in that area." Jill shot him a quizzical look "I can't imagine it being that hard. It's just making sure you don't step on each other's toes right?"Chris gave her a solemn look that deflated the small amount of humor Jill had injected into her statement. "It's more than that Valentine; it's about trust and commitment. Whenever you or I plow ahead into danger we need to know that we've got each other's back no matter what." _

_ Jill felt like someone had punched her in the gut, she had been taking this partners thing as seriously as a summer day while Chris had been agonizing over this for a while now. "You're right" she said morosely "And I guess the best way to start with trusting one another is to start sharing stuff." Reaching into her back pocket she withdrew a small photograph with a man and two women smiling in its frame. "This is my dad and mom, I'm an only child" she said handing it over to Chris "They live here in Raccoon City and they weren't really pleased that I became a police officer. They wanted me to be a lawyer instead, nice and safe right?" The pair laughed for a second well aware of how much Jill despised paperwork. Then Chris took out a locket that he had hidden underneath the collar of his shirt "This is my sister Claire. Our parents died a few years ago in a car crash so I've been taking care of her myself." Jill couldn't help but feel honored that Chris was willing to talk about himself "She's very pretty, is she in college?" she asked looking at the picture showing Chris standing behind a petite brunette that was beaming at the camera. "Yale believe it or not, she's going to major in Biology" he replied unable to hide the inane amount of pride he had for his sister "I can't wait to see her again during Christmas break." He looked at Jill with a small smile on his face "I'm not going to lie, I'm glad Irons picked you to be my partner." _

Grimacing, Jill placed her hand down on the counter allowing her head to process the memory. The therapist had told her that this would happen but they happened so infrequently that whenever a memory did reappear it always took her by surprise. According to the B.S.A.A, her therapist and Chris, Wesker had been used some kind of parasite to control her in the recent past. The brain trauma had been pretty severe as the parasite had jacked straight into her frontal lobe in order to control her movements. As such when Chris and fellow B.S.A.A agent Sheva had saved her from the blonde's clutches they had found out that she was missing most of her memory, both the past and during her time as Wesker's minion. Jill had been in rehab for about a year now since then and she had made a scant amount of progress since. All she really knew was that Chris was her friend; everything else had been destroyed by the parasite.

She needed to find him again, how she had gotten here into this city was a blank making her fear that the parasite's effects could extend beyond whenever it was severed with its host body. Even though she had no concrete evidence Jill was certain he was in the city as well, a strange feeling for one who had been robbed of her emotions. With Hawkeye allowing her stay in his apartment she could use it as a temporary dwelling place until she could locate Chris. Robotically she looked around noting the masked man was nowhere in sight. Processing this her mind computed several factors, first and foremost was the fact the pants he was wearing before she had left were now lying discarded on the floor. The possibility he was taking a bath was negated by the fact there was no shower running in the bathroom opening up the possibility of his kidnapping. Unable to factor in why a possible kidnapper would deprive her masked roommate of his pants Jill strolled over to the window. Hawkeye had locked it after the pair had entered the building and he had pulled the blinds shut. A closer inspection negated the possibility of an unknown force entering via the window, the window had not been tampered with and the shades had not been touched. A small moan caught her attention; it was coming from the bathroom. In three elegant strides she was in front of the door with one leg poised to kick it down and confront whatever was behind it.

However she hesitated, it was impolite to barge in on someone when they were in the bathroom. Balancing on one foot she rapped on the door "Hawkeye can you please respond?" A yelp caught her attention and nearly made her spring into action before she recognized her roommate's voice. "Uh….uh…shit" Hawkeye muttered cursing as Jill heard him clamber around the bathroom in a most disorganized way. She could hear things falling to the ground "Are you unharmed?" she asked feeling something buzz in her mind. Occasionally she had experienced these before; her therapist claimed they were repressed emotions surfacing when Jill was observing some kind of event that would have normally caused her to emote strongly. She wasn't sure but this emotion might be annoyance mixed with some suspicion, she regarded it curiously. A particularly large thump could be heard from the bathroom which was accompanied by another long string of swear words. Deducing he had fallen into the tub Jill lowered her leg and knocked again on the door. "Do you require assistance" she asked which netted her a long pause. "N-no, I'm fine…just fine" he replied sounding a bit depressed leaving Jill unaware she had nearly killed him with the irony of her question. Deciding the situation had been resolved Jill returned to stocking the pantry pausing only to contemplate why Hawkeye had whispered to himself asking why he was such a repressed pussy.

After cleaning up the mess he made in the bathroom Hawkeye put his tube of lotion back behind the toilet, wiped up his spent cum and gave himself a long cold shower to help dispel his hormones for the time being. Unfortunately for him the towel he had used to clean up his orgasm was also the only one left in the bathroom. Clad in a garment soaked with a mixture f water and sperm he had rushed into the living room, grabbed his Hawkeye costume pants and returned to the bathroom while trying to force down a massive blush that threatened to explode all over his face. He exited the shower wearing only his pants and his mask with his body gleaming from the water; Jill did not question his strange behavior. "Sorry bout the mess" he said saddling up to the breakfast bar where two plates full of food had been set "I'll clean my shit up, I swear." "I would be most grateful" Jill coolly replied pushing one of the plates over to him "I shall be gone until this evening." He quirked an eyebrow as he began to shovel down the grub "Why? Got plans for the evening?" "I am looking for a man called Chris Redfield, an agent in the B.S.A.A" she said causing him freeze up. 'Please don't let it be a boyfriend, please don't let it be a boyfriend, please don't let it be a boyfriend' he begged to a higher power mentally. Swallowing his food he hesitated for a bit "Nope, doesn't ring any bells" he crossed his fingers behind his back "Is he your…boyfriend or something?"

"No, he is my partner" she replied and the answer stabbed him in the heart. It was even worse than he had feared, she had a lover. Sinking into depression Hawkeye ate the rest of his meal in sadness watching Jill finish her meal, clean her plate in the sink before walking out the door giving him one last eyeful of beautiful ass that taunted him with how delicious it was. The rest of the day was spent cleaning his apartment in a defeated manner; one could practically hear the Lonely Hearts Club band in the distance as Hawkeye moped about putting his clothes in a laundry basket before heading out of his apartment as the unspectacular Clint Barton. While he was in his apartment's laundry room when the thought finally crossed his mind, he couldn't let Jill know he was Hawkeye. Identity protection was a major part of the super hero code and in his hormonally induced stupor he had offered to be roomies with her. Suddenly the fact she had a fuck buddy didn't sound as bad as it did before, if she was shacking up with the guy it would save Hawkeye a lot of trouble. Still he didn't like to rely on the small chance she would locate this Redfield guy in the span of one day so he had to think up of a backup plan, not one of his specialties.

As he was putting his clothes away he unconsciously turned on the T.V to provide some background noise. "—terrorizing the public enjoying Central Park" the newscaster piped up catching Hawkeye's interest "This mysterious thug has already sent several people to the hospital with broken appendages. While no deaths have occurred yet the police unit that arrived here to help get things under control were a part of the ones sent to the hospital. The mayor has called for all residents to avoid Central Park until the police have a chance to arrest this violent criminal."'Duty calls' he thought happy that something had come along to snap him out of his funk. Donning a newly cleaned Hawkeye costume Clint slung his bow and his quiver over his shoulder and headed out the window. He was about a block away before he realized he might not make it back before Jill so he returned and left her a brief note explaining he was going to the park. As he dashed towards Central Park he took stock of his injuries, his legs had gotten over their week long disuse but his back continued to twinge with every step and flare with every acrobatic twist. He wasn't at one hundred percent yet but for now it would be more than enough to put some punk in his place.

Finding the guy proved not to be difficult at all, even from afar Hawkeye could clearly see the grayish puffs of smoke emanating from the middle of the park. With a graceful double flip (and accompanying twinge that warned him against trying another of those again anytime soon) he landed from the top of a nearby parking garage onto the cement sidewalk that rimmed Central Park. The bystanders nearby curious to see what man could send the police to the hospital cheered at his arrival. Waving at them in a cocky manner he jogged down one of the footpaths that lead to the heart of the park. As he roamed closer to the middle he began to notice some of the details of the battle. At first it was some scuff marks made by a bevy of battlers, likely the punk fighting off several people at a time, then a few dents in trees where someone had impacted them after being thrown. There were some bullet holes farther down suggesting that the police had failed to negotiate with the thug and opened fire. Hawkeye didn't see any blood trails leading away from the accident which worried him, could this guy had dodged every shot fired at him? 'He could be a potential mutant or worse' Hawkeye thought slowing down a bit.

He emerged in a clearing strewn with picnic benches and tables to encourage tourists to sit and admire the fusion of nature and urbanization. Sitting cross legged on one of the tables was a red haired man wearing a purple karate outfit. Deciding to ask questions first and shoot later Hawkeye approached him cautiously "Are you the guy who sent all those police officers to the hospital" he asked keeping a few feet away just in case. "Maggots like them are weak and deserved to be crushed by the strong" the weirdo replied in a deep angry sounding voice "I looked forward to battling the residents of this word and yet all they have offered me were bloodless minnows." Whistling sarcastically in reply Hawkeye knocked an arrow and aimed at the guy's neck "Alright chuckles, we're going to do this nice and easy now. You get off the bench and into jail or else you become food for the ducks, I bet they'd like a change in cuisine." "Are you challenging me" the man asked in a voice that made Hawkeye hesitate for a brief second. "You bet yer ass I'm challenging you, challenging you to make a move" he barked back.

Even with his 20/20 vision Hawkeye barely registered the mysterious man turn on a dime and smack his bow away with one huge meaty hand. His arrow fell to the ground thanks to the sudden lack of tension while Hawkeye went flying back into a picnic bench due to a follow up haymaker. Groaning he stood up drawing a second arrow from his quiver "Not my finest moment but you messed with the wrong guy here asshole" his arrow whistled towards the man who had not moved an inch from the edge of the picnic table. His intense eyes didn't so much as waver as he grabbed the arrow out of the air and broke it in two. "Pitiful" the purple clad man murmured dropping the halves of the arrow "Run along worm, this Akuma is tired of stepping on toads like yourself." "Fuck you, ginger" Hawkeye roared back firing off two more which the man simply caught again. "You are testing my pa—"was all he got out before a brief plume of smoke dispelled from both arrows into his eyes making him stagger back. Rushing forward Hawkeye seized advantage of the situation by bludgeoning the man's face with a barrage of hooks before a kick to the midsection opened up wide enough for Hawkeye to drop kick him away and into the picnic table he had been sitting on.

"Like em" Hawkeye asked grabbing some more arrows from his quiver "Tear gas is perfect for pretentious bastards like you." He fired a tranquilizer round prepared to end this sham of a battle once and for all but the delinquent wasn't going down yet. Unaffected by the tear gas he opened his eyes which were red from irritation and chopped the arrow out of the air. "Parlor tricks" he sneered, cocking both his arms back till his open hands were at his sides "Let's see you handle a real warrior's spirit, boy" Hawkeye sent two more arrows at the guy ready to blind him once again but just as he shot them the man thrust both his hands forward. "Hadouken" he cried releasing a purplish flame from his palms which incinerated the arrows and blasted Hawkeye. The hero cried out as the flames burst against him with a nasty wave of heat that neither burned nor singed but hit him with such a force that it sent him crumpling to his knees. While he was panting for breath the cruel warrior swaggered forward, wordlessly he grabbed the collar of Hawkeye's shirt and tossed him into the air. The hero took one uppercut to the middle then a second to the pelvis then a third to the upper chest, this twisted version of volleyball continued for awhile before the man grew bored and kicked Hawkeye into a tree. "Do you understand the difference now puny one, this Akuma is far superior to you" he called to his downed opponent. "Fuck you asshole, I've faced bigger shits then you who have all told me the same thing" Hawkeye wheezed as he sat into a kneeling position "And you know what? I beat them all." With a cry he sprang forward swiping at the man with his bow, the karate guy blocked by bringing his left arm up to protect his head but staggered back from the jab Hawkeye launched with his free hand. The guy slid back a few feet before cocking his arms once again "Hadouken" he called launching another fireball but Hawkeye was ready this time.

With an agonizing flip he leapt over the projectile launching an arrow that landed directly between the man's legs. The arrow exploded knocking the guy off balance which allowed the hero to launch a kick to the face that drove the guy back before following up with an elbow to the gut which opened his opponent up enough for Hawkeye to shoot him right in the abdomen. The arrow released a powerful electrical charge that would have rattled an elephant but karate man merely flinched in response. Swooping down he grabbed Hawkeye's leg and twisted him about in mid-air before slamming him on the ground. The poor hero's mind was reeling from this blow so he didn't struggle as the red head hoisted him into the air by his neck. "You are not the bug I believed you are" he admitted but looked pleased nonetheless "For your efforts I shall sacrifice you to the Satsui no Hadou, you just barely qualified for that." A purplish aura cloaked the man and a creeping chill began to make its way down Hawkeye's body. Two shots rang out, on hitting the karate bastard in the arm and the other puncturing his chest. Not reacting in the slightest the man glimpsed over to his left to spy a woman in a skin tight purple suit with a pistol in her hand.

"Get away Jill" Hawkeye yelled using the last dregs of strength but she chose to ignore him nonetheless. "Put down Hawkeye" she ordered which the man complied by tossing the poor hero behind him like trash. "Be warned, wench, that this Akuma is tired of worms" the red head growled at her "Leave me to my prize or serve me a better offer." Jill didn't respond as she shot him again and again but no matter how many bullet holes she put in the stranger he didn't stagger "Target for experimentation confirmed" she said with a steely robotic voice Hawkeye had never heard from her before "Master Wesker will be pleased at the stamina in this one, beginning acquisition." She raced at the man her pistol spinning on her thumb like a child's toy disregarding all kinds of gun safety laws. He blocked her jab and jumped over her sweep but the ensuing close range shot opened him up long enough to let Jill in. She pounded him with a haymaker that crumpled him then swept one foot around her in a perfect rotation that wouldn't have looked out of place in an Olympic level rhythmic gymnastics competition. Her heel found one of the bullet holes in his body as it swung around digging into it to open it further. As blood gushed out of his abdomen she fired the rest of her gun's ammo into his chest before taking out her heel out of his chest and sending him flying with a haymaker to the gut.

With one motion she swept her hand through the air getting rid of most of the blood that had drenched it while popping her gun open to release the spent shells, then she quickly reloaded before pointing her weapon at him. "Very good" the red head murmured lightly fingering the wound that spanned his entire chest "But not enough to take down this Akuma." A dark purple aura enshrouded him completely healing each and every bullet hole it touched, even the new ones Jill plugged him with as he stood there. With a kiai he pushed himself up on his feet rushing at the blonde, a mad smile plastered on his face, with such speed the lithe Jill had no hope to dodge. He smashed her once with a forearm shiv that sent her rattling back a few feet before grabbing her right arm and tossing her forward like a rag doll. Luckily Jill managed to twist herself in midair landing from a one armed handstand into a crouching position, one Hawkeye recognized. Her head whipped forward with a mechanical jerk piercing the strange man's red eyes with her inhumane yellow ones. Simply slamming both his feet down onto the ground like a sumo wrestler the man gestured to Jill with the flick of two of his fingers.

Whether on two legs or four Jill continued to move at a pace that was graceful and aggressive, it made Hawkeye a bit nervous as he watched her moves. Crawling over to the man she dodged two punches that sank into the ground harmlessly before whipping her foot at him as she spun around resulting in a nasty crack that made even Hawkeye shudder. Jumping onto his open back Jill slung her legs around his neck shooting two bullets that should have shattered his spine before twisting his head between her thighs trying to snap his neck. The man was made of stronger stuff than marrow apparently as he bucked her off before following her descent with an elbow slam to the gut. Stunned she was helpless to resist as he grabbed her by the neck and hoisted her up, all of his wounds disappearing in a wave of dark violet flames. "Much better but still not enough" he noted dryly watching her squirm helplessly in his arms "But the moves and mind of a beast is no match for this Akuma." Before he could deluge her in the Satsui no Hadou an arrow punctured his arm causing him to drop his opponent onto the ground. Tired of lying around like a lump Hawkeye brought all his pain stamina training to bear as he got back up on his feet while Jill recovered from her rattling blow and retreated a safe distance away.

"Even if it is two opponents this Akuma will still crush you" he crowed loudly intensifying the aura around his body "What hopes does a pair hold to withstand the Satsui no Hadou?" "Then you wouldn't mind one more, ugly?" a voice called out. Something red and white slammed into the red head sending him staggering back from the force of the drop kick. Then it happened again, then again in quick succession causing Hawkeye to rub his peepers to make sure he had just seen what he had seen. It wasn't three people attacking at the same time; it was as if reality itself had suddenly gotten stuck in a loop playing the same scene three times. The red and white blur stopped diagonally across from Jill and Hawkeye so that the trio triangulated their opponent. He was about three feet high with a ridiculous red and white get up topped with a Power Ranger style hat. Abusing the attention he was getting to the max, he struck a pose with his tongue hanging out sideways "Henshin a go-go, baby" he drawled in a high tenor. Lightly rubbing his face bruise the red head glared at the new arrival "Be gone child, this Akuma has no time for brats who hit like limp fish." My apologies then karate chump for a hero can never ignore a damsel and dude in distress" the little guy taunted "Prepare to face the dazzling power of Viewtiful Joe!" The little dweeb dashed forward sliding under a punch before spring boarding off the guys arm while sticking out his tongue "Unfortunately you won't be experiencing that power today sweat potato, VFX Slow." Whatever the red midget had done was successful, the mysterious warrior suddenly went from rapid, raging punching machine to a very unhelpful bullet time matrix tai chi practitioner.

"Retreat! Let's go you guys, andale, andale!" he called over to Jill and Hawkeye who shared a confused glance. "What happened" Hawkeye finally piped up sounding irritated "Who the hell are you and what the hell did you do to that guy?" The red guy jumped up and down impatiently "The name's Viewtiful Joe and that was VFX Slow. It doesn't last very long so we need to skedaddle before ginger over there snaps out of it and stomps our asses into paste." The midget began to run away but he quickly noticed the purple clad Avenger wasn't following him. "Are you stupid or something, what part of retreat don't you get" he asked causing Hawkeye to nock an arrow in rebellion. "Listen short stuff, I'm a hero and heroes don't run away from a fight." This remark merely caused Viewtiful Joe to roll his eyes "Dummy, can't you see this guy just ground your balls into a fine powder and made you eat them? You're not gonna stop him in the shape your in." Indeed, both Jill and Hawkeye were struggling to stay upright and several nasty bruises could be seen blossoming all over their bodies. "I ain't no chicken but Captain Blue always said, you can't be a hero if you're already dead. " "Take your fortune cookie crap and feed it to someone who cares" Hawkeye barked back "This little shit's going down one way or another." Drawing his bow back he was prepared to feather the slo-mo bastard with another taser arrow when Jill put a hand on his tensed muscular arm. "Logic dictates that Viewitful Joe is accurate in his assessment of our opponent as well as our current physical conditions" she said monotonously "I also believe that this man, Akuma, will not attempt to hurt bystanders after analyzing the conversations he had with us." "This ain't about conscience Jill" he replied gruffly upset that his arm had slackened just because she was touching him "This is for the sake of my pride as a man." "That is…illogical" she replied, neither her voice nor her face showed any of the confusion she claimed to be experiencing "Feelings have no place in combat."

Hawkeye sighed and yanked his arm from her hand, the hormonal tingling was beginning to recover despite his earlier sexual endeavors and right now he didn't want to be conflicted over the blond. "Just get Beautiful Joel and yourself out of here, I can handle this on my own" he said but before he could make a move Jill saddled up to his and pierced him with her inhuman yellow eyes. "I see, if you will not follow logic then you leave me no choice. Please accept my apologies in advance but it is imperative that you must live." All he could do was blush at the close proximity of their bodies before a rock hard punch to the gut made him see stars. He crumpled over Jill's shoulder and the blonde hoisted him so she carried him fire fighter style before following Viewtiful Joe out of the park. It felt like his stomach was having the most violent seizure ever and Hawkeye unconsciously loosed his bowels from the force of the blow. Thankfully his periphery began to go dark at the edges signaling that he going to fainting any minute here. His last thoughts should have been cursing Jill out for sucker punching him but the only thing he could think of was if she would take responsibility for wiping his ass.

After a short time in the black abyss of sleep Hawkeye awoke to the golden rays of sunset streaming in through his window. His body's next decision was to involuntarily flinch in order to begin getting up out of bed but a sharp pain in his abdomen warned him of such reckless action. Unwilled, the memories of the fight crept back into his head making him feel bitter that he had been spirited away from such an aggravating opponent, not to mention shame at his potty accident. The dull clump of heels on carpeted floors alerted him to Jill's presence in the room. "How are you feeling" she asked bending over him giving his that same great view of her cleavage but this time he was too emotional to really enjoy it. "That was low" he growled turning his head away from her "Didn't anyone every tell you to treat your allies better." "Is that not what I did" she replied "We were clearly outmatched and you were being illogical, survival must come first even if it is unwanted." "Even so" he argued back "How can you trust someone in battle if they try to force onto their partner the battle plan they feel is best." Had he been looking at her he would have noticed a faint trail of brown muddy up Jill's usually poisonous yellow eyes. "A real partner would have understood the big picture as well as the feelings of their ally" she pointed out, something hot and unstable suddenly injecting itself into her voice "How can anyone trust you when all you think about is something as ephemeral as manly pride?"

Surprised by the sudden surge of emotion in her voice Hawkeye turned to face her only to see the same emotionless face and yellow eyes. "W-well that is to say…" he struggled to find some kind of rebuttal but all he could get out was "I don't need your help." "Sheesh, you two sound like an old married couple" a familiar voice commented causing Hawkeye to jerk up out of bed despite the pain screaming through his muscles. At the end of his bed was the same little snot who had broken up the fight earlier sans his costume. Instead he wore white shorts with a blue tee shirt that had the acronym HMT on it. Currently the guy was munching nonchalantly through a sandwich with such big bites that crumbs were getting all over the floor. "Why the hell are you in my house" Hawkeye asked "The blond chick invited me over, apparently you have some spare room and I'd like to camp out here for a bit." He turned to Jill wincing as he snapped towards her at the waist setting off a fresh riot of pain "Why the hell did you let him in my house" he asked her enraged at her sense of entitlement to his living quarters. "As we ran away from that overpowering opponent we began to dialogue and several interesting factors emerged" Jill explained evenly "Viewtiful Joe is without a domicile so in both our interests I offered him to stay here in order to converse more"

Hawkeye looked confused at the spew of technical language so Joe piped up "We got talking on our way back here and apparently some pretty crazy shit's happened to the both of us, Brown Pants." Snarling at the midget Hawkeye asked "What sort of crazy shit?" Joe waved at Jill "Don't you worry, I got this" and proceeded to hope up onto Hawkeye's bed. "See it goes down like this, a few days ago me and my girlfriend Silvia were dealing with some trouble in Movieland. During a routine fight with some mooks I, er, accidentally used VFX Replay at the wrong time and took a dinosaur's rocket launcher to the face about three times. I go unconscious and next thing I know I'm in the sewers of this city thinking I landed in another movie clip, Attack of the Seven Foot Babes or something XXX like that. Well after a few days and no Silvia or an exit popping up anywhere I get to thinking, what if this ain't Movieland after all?" Hawkeye struggled to process all of this "So what you're bullshitting me is…?" "It ain't bullshit Stink Boxers, I think I got rocketed into another world via an explosion to the noggin" the midget snarked "Since I ain't in heaven this must be a different world."

"An where the hell did you get the idea your from another world" Hawkeye asked dryly causing Joe to fix him with a pointed look. "Don't you ever watch movies, moron? There's always some kind of plot where the dashing hero gets tossed into another world. Obviously I'm in the middle of one of those arcs and that's why I'm crashing here. It's the least you can do since I saved your ass from the purple bastard." "The hell you are, tiny" the larger hero scoffed crossing his arms "Get the hell out before I punt you out. And for the record you did not save my life, you interfered with my fight." "Like hell you're in any position to be punting anything, Stink Pickle" Joe shot back flicking Hawkeye's foot with his finger causing the Avenger to flinch. Before the bellyaching could continue anymore Jill raised a hand "Perhaps it would be best of Joe and I if we were to seek lodging elsewhere? I do not wish to impose myself upon your kindness." Something inside Hawkeye panicked "No, no, no you're fine, I don't mind if you room with me it's just that-" "Alright sweet" Joe said pumping a fist "I claim the couch." "Wait I didn't mean-" the poor hero started realizing the fact that his dick making decisions was once again proving to be a pain in the ass.

Jill's gloved hand fell onto his bare shoulder "You have our thanks for you kind hospitality Hawkeye. We shall make sure to repay your kindness." Under the sheets Hawkeye could feel his insatiable manhood perk up at all the forms Jill could repay him with. "Awesome, it's all coed" Joe yelled jumping up and down on the couch "So Tall, Dark, and Blonde, want to bunk with me tonight?" Hawkeye's mouth fell open 'That little shit, He's barely squeaked under the door and already he's coming onto to Jill.' The perversity of the statement flew right over Jill's head "I will be sleeping in the bathtub" she stated simply causing Joe to cock his head. "Why the hell are you staying there" he asked "It's cold and hard, you'll get bed bruises." "There is nowhere else to sleep; this apartment lacks a conjoining guest bedroom." Both men immediately jumped forward to fulfill their gentlemanly duty but Hawkeye's closer proximity meant he managed to body check Joe out of the way entirely. "Don't worry Jill" he said through gnashed teeth, standing up so suddenly made his wounds submerge him into a whole new world of pain "You can take my bed, I'll sleep in the tub."

She looked at him flatly "That is unwise; between the two of us you are the one who sustained heavier physical damage. Sleeping on such an unforgiving surface will merely slow the healing process down by an abysmal 60%." He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her his friendliest grin "These silly little bruises? They're nothing to me, as a gentleman I insist you take the bed." When she opened her mouth to protest he cut her off "As my guest it would be hella rude not to offer you the bed, you did say that partners understand each other's feelings and junk, right?"Jill hesitated for a bit before nodding "Very well, if you insist" she said uncertainly causing a tide of pride to well up in Hawkeye's chest. "Since there is some time left I will head to a nearby pharmacy" she said heading for the door "I will return with some heavy duty pain killer, no doubt you will need them tomorrow morning." Her sentence was directed at his wounds but Hawkeye couldn't help but imagine a steamy bed event that might condone the use of heavy painkillers. The minute she was out the door Joe rounded on him and fixed him with a knowing grin "You gotta it bad bro." "What the hell are you talking about you little shit" Hawkeye asked, sitting back down on the bad to relieve the pain buzzing in his body. "It's not really all that difficult to tell that you like her" the midget replied gesturing to Hawkeye's waist. While he was out the pair must have stripped him down thanks to the involuntary soiling he was forced to endure, the only thing he was wearing was a thin pair of boxers that couldn't hide the erection he had unconsciously started.

Whipping both hands in front of his throbbing manhood he looked at the door considerably panicked "She didn't see right?" "No worries bro it only started once she mentioned those pain killers" Joe assured him waving his hands dismissively "Though, if you're not going to be able to control whenever you whip it out there then I suggest you either tell her or invest in the Fort Knox of chastity belts." Glowering at the pint sized superhero Hawkeye growled "What do you want, you sneaky little shit?"Joe faked being hurt at the hero's insinuation "Here I thought heroes were supposed to be gracious in defeat. I don't want anything…yet." Joe shot him a huge grin "I'll just see where this leads and let this little favor, so to say, stay in storage for a bit. After all how embarrassing would it be if Jill's mega handsome roommate told her the stinky one got all hot under the waist band whenever she so much as breathed." "You piece of shit, if you so much as begin to tell her-" "Ah, ah, ah, ah" Joe warned him wagging a finger "That's no way to talk to your cool roommate." Fuming at the barbs Hawkeye jumped up yelling as the pain slammed down his body and marched into the bathroom.

He slammed the door shut and slid into the tub getting used to his new bed, behind the door Joe continued to needle him on. "Go ahead and get comfy, bro" he chirped happily "I'll just leave this really scratchy blanket and thin pillow by the door so you can sleep in peace. By the way I'm going to raid the fridge, I know that's alright with you, bro." For several minutes all Hawkeye could do was lay there in the tub, his bulky form squished in there, and rage silently. Today had been one for the record books, the shittiest day in world history. As he continued to stew his roommates went about their business, Jill returned from the pharmacy dropping the painkiller into the bathroom while she and Joe had a small dinner which Hawkeye politely passed on, partly because he was in so much pain he couldn't get up an partly because he knew he would kill that three foot squirt the moment he laid eyes on him. Night fell, his roommates retired to their beds leaving Hawkeye awake in the bathroom. His initial fury had finally worn off giving way into bitter dregs which he directed at Joe, Jill, and mainly himself for being such a pansy ass. He should at least see if the blond was interested in him but her manner and the sudden claim that she had a partner, who might or might not be her lover, scared him away.

Still, try as he might the bowman could not release the pent up lust he had for her, he was tired of hand jobs he did himself. Even if he didn't know a lick about her despite the fact she was cold and fantastic with a gun Hawkeye still wanted to pursue a relationship with her. It was a feeling he didn't experience much, as evidenced by the long gaps he had between steady girlfriends, but Hawkeye couldn't relegate the beauty to a date and dump fantasy. Unconsciously he began to stroke his dick which perked up at the sudden attention sending a much needed wave of endorphins to tempt him further. Splaying both legs out of the tub he opened the small gap in the middle of his boxer letting his manhood out into the humid night air. As he began to play with himself his left arm brushed up against his head as he attempted to bunker down into a more comfortable position. He realized that his mask was still on which sent a jolt of relief into his heart, he was happy they hadn't decided to remove his mask when they cleaned him up. With his identity still a secret to his roommates he got back to the task at hand as his formerly flaccid penis began to firm up under his delicate administrations.

Before he could get too big the door to the bathroom slammed open and something short dashed to the toilet. "What the hell were in those jello shots I had for dinner" Joe asked aloud to no one as a mighty stream could be heard sloshing its way into the toilet bowl. "What the hell" Hawkeye roared covering his erection as best he could with his hands "I'm trying to get some sleep in here!" "This is the bathroom dingus" Joe shouted back as he continued to relieve himself "Where the hell else was I supposed to go?" Hawkeye could only groan in response before settling back into the toilet which tweaked his back painfully. The dark, grim, reality that the next week or so was going to be fraught with annoying midgets, foxy ladies and the fact that he wouldn't be able to masturbate without either of the two knowing almost broke the proud hero.


	11. Lines are Drawn

Chapter Eleven: Lines are Drawn

Dr. Doom had planned the heists to be a week apart, long enough so no one could draw concrete connections to the pair but short enough to keep up with the blitzkrieg plan they had in mind for the city. M.O.D.O.K had successfully delivered the mysterious parts to Doom who had promptly hidden them away from sight from the rest of the organization. It had drawn a few cries of ire from Super Skrull and Wesker, but Doom had insisted that the pair wouldn't understand the technical jargon of why the part was useful. Besides, he assured them, the phase in which the part was used was upon the horizon. This didn't placate Super Skrull at all, Wesker was oddly quiet after that, forcing Doom to side track him with conversation of the arrival of the Fantastic Four which was destined to happen any day now. After suffering through some cooperative fanboying over how the pair were going to crush the heroic quartet Doom had presented Magneto with blue prints to Trask Industries. The mission was to infiltrate the island warehouse where Bolivar Trask built and stored the Sentinels used to patrol North America. Once inside Magneto would use a special program Doom had invented to control the robots and send them to their hidden base via tunneling through the Earth's crust in order to avoid detection.

The morning started out normal for the citizens of New York City, the nightmare of the zombie invasion was slowly beginning to weaken with time, bringing more and more life back to the previously spitfire residents. The masses churned their way into the streets, partly grumpy because it was the start of another work week and partly relieved that their lives had returned to such normality that they had the luxury to complain about a case of the Mondays. Among the rabble of suit wearing business men was a particularly well dressed senior who moved about their ranks in a graceful manner with a contemptuous sneer plastered all over his face. Magneto hated blending in with such inferior beings; mutant powers like his were meant to be showcased instead of hidden. He had half a mind to ditch Doom and his cronies, destroy everyone here then find a way home himself but the tyrant had hinted at some "elements" that would prevent him from going home through his own means. After getting more clarification over what these "elements" were Magneto felt it prudent to obtain more information, you couldn't cross Doom then go back and ask for forgiveness later.

Trying his best not touch the suit clad humans, Magneto made his way to the harbor unmolested by anyone. The murky waters mirrored the sky, which was clouded in light gray as if a storm was coming. As he was contemplating what kind of water craft he should hijack a large and powerful hand grasped his shoulder. On reflex his magnetism caused several metal guard rails to give way from their bearings and turn to his assailant, ready to impale him within a second's notice. "Cool it Magneto, it's me" a familiar voice barked at him "I'm here to talk." "The metal relaxed back into its former position while it's master swiveled to face one his most dogged opponents. "It's good to see you again, Wolverine" Magneto said politely ""Although I must warn you, I'm not in a mood to talk for an extended period of time." The shorter man removed his hand, he was clad in a dirt stained white tee shirt with some frayed jeans and a cheap pair of sneakers.

For a quick second no one said anything, the two enemies simply stared at each other neutrally. Unlike Xavier, Magneto did not have a substantial personal history with Wolverine but their paths had crossed in battle multiple times and there was that one time Magneto had stripped the adamantium off of his bones but aside from that the pair knew each other mostly through second hand sources. "What are you doing here" was Wolverine's first question and was easy enough for Magneto to rebuff. "Can't a man take a walk these days without suspicion" he replied nonchalantly fiddling with his cuff links. The mutant scowled at his answer deciding to drop the pretenses "Why are you here, in this world?" The elder rolled his eyes "I don't have time for existential navel gazing." "Cut the crap Magneto, I know you know we're in a different world" Wolverine continued "The fact that your wandering around here instead of running about with the Brotherhood is a big fucking clue." While he could have insisted on ignorance Magneto decided that feigning it would be too pointless, even if his evidence was hardly concrete Logan would find out eventually.

"Very well then, I am aware we are in an alternate dimension of sorts" the metal master admitted "Aside from that however I am entirely oblivious unto why we're here." He turned to Wolverine "When did you realize our sudden displacement Logan?" "Did some digging" the bestial man replied vaguely "Wasn't too hard to put the pieces together, if whoever did this was planning on us not noticing they did a shitty job." Magneto reflected on this information quietly, Logan was clueless as to who was pulling the strings and that caused a small surge of empathy in him. Since Doom was keeping close tabs on everyone for the time being maneuvering about unseen would prove too difficult on one's lonesome. If he had a subordinate of some kind to move about the shadows for him it would help him in his quest to get back home. Even if Doom swore up and down he would find some way to return them to the dimension from which they were displaced Magneto knew better than to take Doom's promises at face value. The tin tyrant was well known for his duplicity in such matters, a seasoned warrior such as Magneto knew better than to blindly follow Plan A and hope for the best.

Preferring to find a way home on his own Magneto weighed his chances at getting Wolverine to work for him. It was shaky at best, the man-beast had never liked the worldview Magneto espoused, but Logan was known to be a good information gatherer and was fine with operating in the shadows. "Wolverine, do you want to go home" Magneto asked testing the waters. The scruffy man looked at him shortly "No shit Sherlock, hell yeah I want to go home." "Would it be possible then to team up temporarily" Magneto asked "I believe that in this case two heads would be better than one." Logan looked at him, clearly incensed by his offer "The day I team up with you is the day hell freezes over, bub. I still remember that dick move you pulled with me and my adamantium." Magneto sighed and shrugged "Can't we let bygones be bygones, Logan?" He turned around, ready to leave, deciding to use the ace up his sleeve to reel Logan in "Say hi to Ms. Jean Grey for me will you?"

"Stop" Wolverine barked freezing the senior in his tracks "What the hell do you mean 'say hi to Jean for me' she's been dead for years." With his face turned away Magneto gave a nasty little smirk, M.O.D.O.K's intel had been good. The mad face machine had approached him earlier with an offer he described as 'most lucrative' but instead of money the super computer had waned a favor. Naturally the metal master was leery of dolling out such gifts, favors had a nasty way of biting you in the ass, but M.O.D.O.K had persisted he had something that would help the mutant with his agenda. After some hemming and hawing the mutant had given in and, in hindsight, he was very glad for this lapse in judgment. Knowing that M.O.D.O.K and Wesker were allying themselves against Doom Magneto did not want to get caught up in petty struggles and he would bet his helmet whenever M.O.D.O.K came to collect on his favor it would strain his neutrality in the eyes of Super Skrull and Dr. Doom. Thankfully M.O.D.O.K's info had been incredible, earth shattering even, and right now Magneto was going to abuse it for all it was worth.

"You didn't know" he stated keeping voice as nonchalant as possible "I figured you of all people would know?" "Know what" Wolverine asked turning the elder around until he looked him right in the eye "Tell me, you bastard!" Magneto raised an eyebrow "How odd, perhaps she doesn't want to see you? After all she made her choice years ago, most likely the right one." Lightly he extracted himself from Logan's grip "Well as stimulating as this has been I must be off." "She's alive, isn't she" Logan murmured sounding vulnerable. "Alive and well if I do say so myself" Magneto stated causing Wolverine to jerk his head up and level his opponent with a look that could erode mountains. "Where is she" he roared, unsheathing his claws and placing them under Magneto's chin in a threatening gesture. "I don't know, it would be rude of me to tell you where she is especially if she doesn't want to see you." Magneto replied forcing Logan's hand to the side with his powers "You really don't take rejection well do you?"

Fuming, Logan summoned and retracted his claws several times with a multitude of snikts while his body tensed for action, he was stuck at some sort of mental crossroads. Growling he looked at Magneto sharply "Alright, what do you want?" "I need you to gather some info for me, I can't do this myself for reasons I care not to share" the metal master replied taking out a pen and paper "Here's a list of what I need." He handed it to Wolverine who stuffed it in his grimy pockets "Ms. Grey is currently residing in Stark Tower, with Tony Stark, in his penthouse suite." Magneto couldn't resist the haughty little smirk that wormed its way onto his face as he watched his words sink in "How times have changed." The furry runt was off like a shot but not before giving his opponent the middle finger. "Aw love, how incredibly stupid" Magneto remarked before catching sight of the perfect craft to shuttle him across the harbor. It was a little tugboat; hardly the mighty craft he preferred to captain but it's unassuming nature made it perfect to draw as close to the base as possible.

He took a deep breath feeling the magnetic force strengthen under his supervision. Lightly he grabbed hold of the metallic little boat, strong enough to alter its path but gentle enough not make the sailors on board to panic. Working under the presumption something had happened to their ship's motor the men on board allowed themselves to drift closer to the shoreline as they went about trying to figure out the problem. When they had drawn a couple of yards closer Magneto levitated into the air, he had to work quickly if he wanted to keep this under wraps. In seconds he had landed on the unguarded prow pausing only to regain his sea legs before sweeping forward with quick, powerful steps. The first victim of his hijacking must have heard his boots clacking loudly on the deck; he appeared from the belly of the ship. Unfortunately for him he only managed to get one foot out the door onto the open deck before a pair of metal bolts detached from the railing and slammed into his heart shredding it like paper. The rest of the railing upended itself with a small groan before snaking forward in a grey whorl and catching the man before he could hit the deck and alert the others below. Tossing the corpse over the side of the tugboat Magneto didn't even bother to head down to deal with the rest, he could feel the steel skeleton of the ship which corseted the rest of the ship together.

With one hand he sent a magnetic pulse through that skeleton causing a forest of spikes to impale whatever unfortunate souls down below, he repeated it a few times to ensure they were dead before setting his sights on the island. Hiding himself in the captain's cabin he drove the boat forward using his powers. The ride lasted an hour and a half, at about twenty minutes before he landed on the island the radio crackled "These waters are property of Trask Industries, please turn you boat around and leave immediately." Ignoring the warning Magneto shot a hand up shrouding the entire island in a powerful magnetic dome which would hinder any communications going on within the facility as well as any calls to the mainland. With a burst of power he shot the boat forward wanting to get this part over with as quickly as possible, expending too much energy on the approach would be foolhardy. Even with the wind barraging his face he stepped out onto the deck un-phased by the speed at which his vehicle was heading towards the cliffs of the island.

Seconds before the collision he levitated into the air landing onto the island with a gentle tap, he looked at the facility with a calculating stare. The massive institution spanned several miles while the ceiling extended into the sky, it looked more like a prison than a factory. Swiping a hand through the air Magneto sent a second wave through the immediate area, this one was much more concentrated and designed to destroy security cameras. The metal chain link fence in front of him also wilted under his administrations allowing him to stroll right up to the east wall unmolested. A quick tap of his finger tore the wall open like a wrapping paper allowing him to enter the factory without a single person managing to observe his arrival. Unfortunately for Magneto, Bolivar Trask had been lucky, stupid lucky but luck was luck despite its IQ. At the eastern end of the building lay a small alarm that had been bought on accident, a different model that had accidentally been packaged with the rest of the bulk order. Instead of sending it back the supervisor had decided to install it, after all the building was so tightly guarded in the first place what did it matter if this one was to exact specifications? One of those specifications had been the fact it had been made mostly of plastic rather than completely metal like the rest of its cousins. The magnetic wave had bent it out of shape but had not hindered its abilities in anyway. Another specification was the fact that it didn't alert the mainland using a radio signal; it sent its message through a satellite link which connected it directly to the police. Two things happened within a span of twenty minutes; first and foremost a special computer virus that Tony had installed into the NYPD's servers caught the signal, copied it and sent it to Stark Towers. The second event was a phone call from an Officer Shelley, a longtime supporter of the Avengers, to Captain America alerting him to where the alarm had come from.

Tony Stark was in the middle of his continuing endeavor to get JARVIS back online when he got the notice. A little bubble popped up on the screen, a message from Pepper, explaining the scope of the situation. An alarm had gone off in a Trask Industries factory and no one could get into contact with the personnel situated there. Eager to see how his new Avengers would handle their first mission he suited up, sending a message to everyone of the appending battle. Remotely the window on his penthouse office opened allowing Iron Man to blast his way into the sky followed a few seconds later by two mini Quintjets. One surged past him giving him a brief glance at the driver, X-23's face was the epitome of focus as she sped along in a straight line. Meanwhile her teammate, Spider-Man, was lagging behind them but making up for the lack of speed by incorporating sweeping barrel rolls and loops. "Put your rear in gear, Parker" X-23 barked over the radio "Give the cheerleader routine a break and try to keep up!" "Aww c'mon" Spider- Man mock whined "I know this is old hat for you Laura but some of us patrol without fancy toys. Let me enjoy this." "This is a mission, Parker, not a field trip" she yelled at him "If you do one more flip…"

"Not the most auspicious start to this batch of the Avengers" Tony snarked as Laura and Parker continued to dig at each other over the radio. _"Beggars can't be choosers Tony"_ Jean remarked telepathically _"Besides a little spirit among team members is usually a good thing." _"I wouldn't call this spirit, Jean" Tony replied out loud "Have you managed to get a lock on who's behind the break in?" "_Unfortunately not yet"_ the psychic said "Once _you get closer I should be able to reveal their identity_." "Not to be a doubter but I was under the impression your telepathy is much more powerful than this." In his mind's eye he could see her frown _"We've discussed this at length, after that last close call at Stark Tower we agreed that I would play mission control for your Avenger's Tony. Even if mind-linking is a low effort task, expending too much energy stretching out my powers, I could lose control again." _ The rest of the journey went by uneventfully, aside from the playful banter from Spider-Man and the dead serious threats from X-23. Ten minutes after the alarm had gone off inside Trask Industries the Tony's Avengers landed on the outside of the compound.

The minute Laura hopped out of her Quintjet she began to sniff the air aggressively "Could it be…" she murmured sinking down on all fours to get a better whiff of a piece of scrap metal that had been ripped off the wall. "It's Magneto" she stated standing back up "It's unmistakable." "_I can second that_" Jean said "_I can pick out some of his surface thoughts; he must not be wearing his helmet_." "Well crap" Tony exclaimed beginning to press buttons on his suit's wrist "That completely rules out Laura from helping us in stopping him. It'll also take about twenty minutes for a nonmetallic suit to arrive in this area so I can combat him which means…" Spider-Man's eyes suddenly widened as both the implications as well as his companions glares began to sink in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa" he said putting his arms up defensively "This isn't some B-list villain like Electro, this is Mag-Freaking-neto. He requires at least two big time heroes, I'll need your help if we're going to take him down." "Don't worry Parker, I don't need you to take him down solo, I just need you to delay him long enough so I can retrieve my special anti-Magneto armor." "_I will also be with you Parker_" Jean piped up in their collective consciousness "_At the least you'll have the drop on him and I'll give you all the advice I have from the battles I've fought against him in the past_." "Alright, I trust you guys" Spider-Man said with a sigh "But you better hurry up, Stark."

With a thwip the red and blue clad hero swung into corridor quickly following the path of destruction Magneto had carved into the building's interior. A hand suddenly grabbed his chin forcing Tony to look into Laura's intense brown eyes "I will not simply stand around here helpless" she stated. "I wouldn't dream of it" Tony replied with a smug grin "You're going to start evacuating hostages, I'm sure you know better than anyone the utter disregard for non-mutant life Magneto has." Nodding she bounded into the building sniffing up a storm to locate survivors leaving Tony outside to wait for the delivery of his suit.

Unaware of his pursuers Magneto had opted to move at a casual pace, he hadn't done the hands on approach lately so the adrenaline rush was a nostalgic feeling. Walking at a leisurely pace he noted the absence of personnel in the hallways, had they evacuated deeper into the building or had his termination of the alarms been that effective at keeping his presence hidden? That mental query was quickly answered via a troop of trained armed guards filtering out of the nooks and crannies of the hallway ahead with synchronized perfection creating a wall of black clad bodies between him and the bowels of the factory. He suppressed a smirk as a quick magnetic wave confirmed his suspicions; all the weapons aimed at him were metal. "I don't mind killing scum like you" he called out to them smugly "But then my shoes will be ruined by the bloody gristle strewn about the floor when I'm done with you hence my offering you the chance to back down. Quite a generous offer if I do say so myself." Their reply was the clack of a multitude of guns being cocked in one single motion causing the mutant to frown. "And these were Italian crafted as well" he lamented as he began to explode their weapons into shrapnel which ripped through their bodies downing two thirds of them instantly.

The other third, despite considerable damage to their chest region, managed to regroup on a split second sending a volley of hot lead at the mutant. The little bullets hit an invisible wall between the two forces sinking into it like berries suspended in jello. Awestruck at the defiance of physics happening in front of them the guards were helpless to do anything more than stand there as the bullets pulled a slow 180 in their flight path. A sweep of his hands sent the small projectiles back at the men who had fired them, cutting their ranks apart like ducks at a shooting gallery. The two stragglers who had managed to avoid the return fire by using the bodies of their comrades as shields tried to flee only to be paid for their cowardice with spikes warped from the industrial metal floor to the abdomen slicing their hearts open. Grimacing, the senior minced his way through the carpet of corpses trying his hardest to not step in too much blood. Despite his best efforts after emerging at the end of the hall his shoes were effectively ruined forcing Magneto to tromp forward leaving a trail of sticky crimson footprints behind him.

After a few more uneventful minutes and several more severed walls Magneto finally entered the inner sanctum of the Trask Factory. The room spanned the majority of the center with a roof that shot up into the sky and for good reason too. Stacked like dominoes were Sentinels as far as the eye could see, they were easily fifteen stories in height leaving only a few scant stories between them and the massive structure that was attached to the roof. From his initial perspective Magneto couldn't tell what kind of massive machine spanned the ceiling, his first guess was that it was a type of transporter that maneuvered individual Sentinels about the room. Assured that all Sentinels were off line for the time being, Magneto began to search the room for some kind of computer console. Dr. Doom had given him a memory stick that contained several viruses to hijack command of the Sentinels and use an autopilot program to get them back to the base.

Parker couldn't help but shiver when he stumbled on the still warm corpses of the unfortunate guards. Their bodies had been shredded leaving little more than tangles of flesh along with some shards of bones and a few laces of muscle. While he fought to keep the contents of his stomach under control Laura bounded up to the distressed hero looking over the carnage without so much as a sniff of disdain. Carefully she made her way to the middle of the scene occasionally bending down to check the pulses of an unfortunate few hoping that someone had gotten lucky enough to survive. Out of the three dozen guards she found five who were exhibiting life signs strong enough to survive the trip to a hospital. Slinging one onto her back she grabbed Parker's wrist as he bent down to grab another injured guard. "This is my job Parker, you need to go after Magneto" she instructed forcing him to stand back up. "Saving the injured is more important right now" Spider-Man bit back, slightly bitter from the sight in front of him "There's no way you can get all of these guys out in time, you'll be able to save two at most if you don't have some help."

He tried to shake her grasp but she was relentless "You know, I am this close to punching you right now." The threat flew over her head "Parker now is not the time to get emotional. Magneto does not expend this amount of energy on wasteful slaughter, there is something here he wants and I will bet my claws it will hurt many more if he gets his hands on it. I realize you are not used to this level of violence bit for the good of New York I am asking you to risk letting these men die in order to avenge their deaths by thwarting Magneto." Her words were neutral and surgically precise leaving Parker to try and summon some sort of anger he could use to power through her steel cold logic. Eventually the words of his of his beloved Uncle Ben rang through his mind like they did on a daily basis "With great power comes great responsibility". Usually those words brought a wave of relief and vindication over him, especially whenever he felt indecisive about the choices presented before him, but now they felt incredibly cold. As a hero he was forced to look at the big picture and the big picture told him that whatever Magneto wanted was bad in a big way. Stepping over the prone bodies of humans desperate for aid, he moved forward robotically chasing after the mutant leaving a solemn Laura to run back carrying a heavily wounded guardsman on her back.

"_Amazing, Tony says she's a clone but she's so very different from him_" Jean remarked quietly in the back of his mind. "Believe it or not that's par for the course" Spider-Man said dully "I've had some experience with clones before and they all diverge from their original's mind processes pretty quickly." "_Parker, I know you feel remorse about that scene back there but I need you to get your emotions under control_" she said "_I'm having to expend more energy to stay within your now turbulent psyche. I know this sounds emotionless but you have to get over it for now_." "Hey Jean, could you just, shut up please" Spider-Man replied, banking around a corner nearly running into a group of people. Judging from their attire these were the engineers and scientists who worked in the building. A few guards were trying to corral the panicked mob into some coherent form of organized egress from the building. The arachnid's presence did nothing to soothe the chaos, when they spotted him almost everyone started throwing accusations. "It's the menace" one if the scientists screamed looking like he was about to wet himself "He' probably the one who broke in! We're all going to die."

"Whoa, hey people, get a grip. I'm not going to hurt you" Spider-Man insisted but JJ's influence reigned supreme here. Cocking their guns the guards internally debated releasing a volley in this closely packed hallway making Spider-Man blanch, no one else had to get hurt here. A very powerful voice suddenly managed to worm its way through the cacophony "Everyone just shut up." It was a teenage girl with short black hair that curled up at either side of her head; she looked about fifteen years old giving Spider-Man the impression she must be some kind of robotics genius, "Listen to me everyone" she called out again managing to snuff out the noise for a brief second "Now is not the time to panic." "Are you kidding" an older woman yelled trying to wrestle a weapon from one of the guards "Now is the perfect time to panic. The intruder's right there!" "Think for a second you idiots, if he was the intruder he would be killing us already" the girl shouted back before turning to the hero "Which way's the exit?" "Keep going behind me and to the left, you'll pass an…unfortunate scene and then a little ways deeper you'll see this big hole in the wall. Iron Man should be standing there waiting for his armor."

His words had a fairly undesired effect, instead of moving towards the exit in a calm and orderly fashion the mass decided to stampede their way forward. After the dust settled only he and the teenage employee were left gaping after their horrifyingly unprofessional exit. "Well…good luck with the intruder" the teenager commented maneuvering around the arachnid "I'm going to go evacuate now." "Hey thanks for the help" the hero said walking in the opposite direction "Happen to have a theory of where the intruder is going?" Stopping she undid the lanyard around her neck "Probably the Master Mold, it's just a guess but I think he's after our Sentinels. This'll get you in the door." She tossed him the lanyard which held a keycard which he caught easily "Thanks for the help, kid." Waving her hand dismissively the teenager walked around the corner "It's not kid, the name's Tron Bonne." Placing the lanyard around his neck the hero continued to follow the bloody footprints that led him deeper into the facility.

Meanwhile, Iron Man was impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for his armor to arrive at the facility. The early morning light made it easy to spot a small dot several miles out and approaching at high speed. "It's about time" Tony thought squinting but his initial hopes were dashed as the dot moved closer. There seemed to be something g hanging off the dot, as if something had caught onto his armor and was being dragged by it. Once it was about a mile from Tony his confused façade degraded into an angry sneer, he knew that shape too well. It was Thor carrying Captain America across the harbor and if the little black dot high up in the cloudy gray sky was any indication Hulk was also coming along using a gravity defying jump from the mainland. Captain America was also clearly nonplussed by Tony's presence on the island, a small frown graced his chiseled features as he and the god of thunder touched down on the island. "Come here by your lonesome Stark" the star spangled hero asked strolling up to his former teammate "Do you know who did this?" Tony shrugged "Maybe I do, maybe I don't, why don't you get a clue Captain?"

"I don't appreciate the snark, Stark" Steve replied "Could you stop being childish for a second and help us stop this super villain. Being spiteful is not a quality a hero should possess." "Spare me the nickel and dime advice Steve, I've got the situation under control." Thor gave an amused grunt "By the Bifrost! Only Heimdall himself could sight thy present endeavors into aiding the mortals under assault." "Can it Shakespeare, I'm waiting for a suit to arrive. My Avenger's have the situation under control for now." Captain America quirked an eyebrow "You Avengers?" On cue Laura ran out of the building with a heavily injured guard on her back "Tony, there are injured in the hallway." She called out before noticing the new arrivals "There are four more injured guards deeper inside, can you please extract them while I take this one to the hospital?" Before Tony could protest the Avengers muscling in on his mission both Cap and Thor rushed into the building while Laura hopped into her Quintjet and set off for the mainland leaving him gaping uselessly for a second "_Just give it up Tony_" Jean warned him "_There's no need to hog the spotlight_."

A huge earthquake alerted him to the fact that Hulk had just impacted onto the island "Where Cap and Thor, tin man" he asked straightening up. It took a second for Tony to pick himself up off the ground "Where the hell do you think they are?" he snipped causing the green giant to scowl at him "Hulk no like how tin man talks to him. Where Cap?" Hulk took a step forward but then something rectangular smacked him in the back if the head causing him to cry out. The thing fell into Tony's arm making him smile; it was his special suit at last. The one he was wearing independently slid off his body to be replaced by the new one within the span of a few seconds. "Figure it out" he snarled at hulk before blasting his way into the facility in pursuit of the old Avengers leaving Hulk scratching his head.

It took Magneto awhile to find where the factory's main computer was situated, there were dozens of smaller ones scattered about the room. As he was strolling down one of the aisles filled with Sentinels his eye was drawn to empty space located in the middle of one of these rows. Four of the podiums that should have housed individual Sentinels were empty leaving only a few loose sparking cables and a small scrap of paper. Picking up the paper Magneto noted that it was folded in half invitation style. On the front of the card was a cartoonish head, it looked sort of like the head of a lego figure. Staring at the cutesy smile the head was giving him Magneto flipped it open revealing a message in a loopy scrawl "_Love the tech, hope you don't mind me borrowing a few. –Tron Bonne_" "A thief, eh" the mutant commented before shrugging, they had only managed to abscond with four so in the long run it didn't have an impact on his mission. A little more searching revealed the mainframe, a tiny computer located near the far end of the room. Booting it up he plugged the memory stick with the control programs in but a second later a robotic female voice piped up. "Odd, for some reason I'd thought this Tron Bonne would be taller."

The mutant looked around ready to impale the mysterious interloper with a well molded floor spike but instead of a human appearing out of the shadows a computer monitor slid down from above. On it was a cartoon white circle with only a pair of vivid red lips on it "Greetings subject, and thank you so much for volunteering for a round of extremely harmless and humane tests." Magneto hrrmphed "Master Mold I presume?" "Correct, guinea pig" Master Mold replied with robotic joy "I don't appreciate any intruders in this aperture, especially when said intruder happens to steal away some of my beloved babies." A series of cables fell down from the ceiling and began to glow red with photon absorption "First test, try not to die!" Master Mold said as a barrage of lasers began to blast the area around Magneto. The mutant hurriedly levitated himself into the air and began to snake around the Sentinels to dodge the lasers. "The subject is able to fly at will" the computer commented to itself aloud "Bolivar will be most interested in the data accompanying these tests."

Blocking the inane voice out of his head Magneto concentrated on fighting back; first he would have to find where the Master Mold was located. Past scuffles with Trask Technology told him that the Master Mold was usually a Sentinel that was palette swapped and sitting around in a large chair. As he swooped about the room with red death followed his every move just a shade behind him. "Looking for something, Bonne?" Master Mold mocked "Shouldn't you prioritize passing my tests over stealing my children." "You'll have to forgive me but I have no desire to continue this little charade." Magneto bit back as he summoned forth a magnetic wave to rattle the room in hopes of unseating the Master Mold so he could destroy it. The lasers abated for a second as the factory computer fought to process exactly what happened "Why didn't I see it before, the subject is the threat to humanity my children were born to exterminate. This changes the nature of the test completely."

The tubes that had been firing lasers stopped and with a mechanical clack part of their nozzles twisted about until a heavy fog began to emanate. Painstakingly Master Mold began to sweep the room with these layered blasts of super chilled air freezing anything that came into contact with it. A fatal blast forced Magneto to ascend quickly to avoid becoming a mutant Popsicle and when he hit the zenith of the arc he nearly gawped at what stood in front of him. He had mistakenly assumed that the Master Mold would be indistinguishable from its offspring in form; it turned out to be quite the opposite in this world. Instead of a humanoid appearance the Master Mold was in fact a bloated sack of mechanical parts with a screen that showed a female cartoon face with an insane smile. The mechanism he had early thought to be a transportation system was in fact the Master Mold, its humongous bulk forced the engineer's who had built it to attach it to the ceiling because there was no room underneath it. The screen face was attached to a thin, reedy cord that had a number of arms and weapons grafted into it before it connected to a huge seven chamber thorax. The entire set up was meant to draw some sort of symbolic relationship with a queen bee which drew eerie similarities between it and the most recent batch of Sentinels from his world that had mirrored the appearance of insects.

As well as looking like a queen bee the Master Mold had also shaped its prime directive in the same fashion. In perhaps the best attempt for a machine to replicate how organic beings reproduced its entire factory was located inside the giant thorax which buzzed with the muted roar the tools used to craft Sentinels. Giggling at his horrified expression the Master Mold decided to "bless" him with an example of how it worked. Before his very eyes he watched each of the seven chambers contract in tandem as the factory inside began to construct a Sentinel. Typically a Master Mold could construct one of its lesser brethren in less than an hour if it had the right resources and the proper location with which undertake the task. This queen bee Master Mold birthed children within minutes; one appeared from her underside after a scant five minutes while a second shortly followed. "Mmmmmm, that look on your face, subject" it commented playfully "I'll treasure the video feed forever." The two newly birthed Sentinels leapt into action firing beams from their mouths while their mother continued to try and trap Magneto with icy blasts.

Reaching out Magneto grabbed the pair with his power and attempted to crush them like soda cans but a sudden blast of magnetic energy cancelled his attack and sent him reeling. "So rude, you should never attempt to molest a child in front of its mother" the Master Mold chided using a second blast to send him into a wall "Luckily for this mama bear her creator was prepared for this eventuality. For one such as yourself you did not exceed my expectations, in fact you failed by a margin of 19%. That is unacceptable and pathetic, and I do not permit either of those adjectives into my aperture. Farewell mutant, you've failed my class." "Do you ever shut up" Magneto asked the machine standing up a bit shakily "Perhaps if you did you would have noticed my checkmate." "Big words, Tron Bonne, but I have you right where I want you" the machine crowed as its children began to power up the next shot of lasers that would spell the end of Magneto "I must confess, no one has ever managed to beat test L." Test L" the mutant asked quizzically "Yes, L is for lasers, which you must survive but you can't, no one has" the machine informed him "And after that unflattering performance you just put on I highly doubt you'll be able to make the grade this late in the exam."

"If there was one thing I learned from university it was when confronted with an impossible test given by a craven, mechanical professor with the timbre of nails on a chalkboard the easiest way to win…" Magneto looked at the machine's face with a grin "…is to cheat like hell." The console he had inserted the memory stick into chimed like an oven and the Sentinels who had formerly been plotting to disintegrate him suddenly went through a violent state of matricide by turning their lasers on mummy dearest. Screaming in rage Maser Mold watched helplessly as its middle compartment blew into a million shards of shrapnel sending razor sharp bits of metal as well as large chunks of welded thorax everywhere. With one last push of his awesome powers Magneto halted their projection and sent them swirling about the Master Mold. "Very good guinea pig, very good" it praised him over the creak of metal being compressed "You pass the test with flying colors but the test itself was a merely a batch of basic multiplications tables and a dash of light calisthenics. I'm still alive you know and when I reboot I will get you my pretty and your little mutant horde too." With each passing second the Master Mold's voice grew higher and higher in pitch before reaching a helium-like, hilarious voice then disappearing entirely. A small metal cube dropped into Magneto's hand, the result of the mechanical mother being subjected to the best of his abilities. Flicking her geometric corpse over one shoulder he began giving orders to the Sentinels who were now under his control.

"Start digging you abominable machines" he ordered wiping some dust off his suit "I don't want to be sticking around much longer, any more lollygagging and we're liable to get caught." The minute the words were out of his mouth the mutant turned around using his powers to grab a sheet of metal to hold in front of him. Spider-Man placed a huge dent in his makeshift shield but it held forcing the arachnid to back flip a few feet away. "Maggy" the hero exclaimed "It's been far too long, you know that." Ignoring the shortened name Magneto waved the hero away dismissively "Away with you, I have no quarrel with you mutate." "Thanks for the offer Mags but boy do I have a quarrel with you" the red and blue clad bug replied "Breaking and entering is a serious crime you know." "So is murder but I see little reason to stop there" the mutant replied summoning a barrage of shrapnel into the air then throwing it at the bug. Spider-Man effortlessly dodged it to the point where not even a shallow cut had managed to make purchase on his body at all. A quick thwip of web blinded Magneto long enough for the hero to land a nasty blow to the mutant's middle. His bones shuddered from the blow warning him he was not as young as he used to be while the binding fluid proved to most resistant to attempts to pull it off his face.

"Sentinels 36 and 49, attack" Magneto ordered getting a look of pure panic from the webhead. While the mutant struggled to free his eyesight Spider-Man was forced to duck and dodge around the machines as they launched coordinated attacks. A powerful punch to one of their wrists proved to be useless even while Peter Parker channeled his entire spider like strength into it. "Oh, this is bad" he bemoaned as one of them used the opening to backhand him into a wall. With considerably less spring in his step Spider-Man got back onto his feet before the robots could stun lock him with synchronized ground pounds. Dodging one fist then another he weaved his way up the wrist of one coming to a stop right next to its head. Clinging to the back of the head Spider-Man used both hands to punch a hole into one of the robots where a bevy of electrical cords and motherboards were nestled. Frantically pulling out as many as he could the hero was forced away by a jab from one Sentinel which sent the other to the ground. A few breathless seconds later Spider-Man whooped from victory as the downed Sentinel began to smoke and twitch. One on one, however, proved to be not as decisive as he had hoped. In typical Sentinel fashion the robot processed the data on how Spider-Man defeated its brethren then evolved its algorithms so that it could produce a battle style in order to combat its foe more effectively. Instead of lumbering forward for melee strikes the Sentinel hung back shooting a barrage of lasers to hassle its foe while keeping a steady gaze on the wall crawler as he tried to flank the robot to get to its vulnerable head.

A stalemate took place as either battler tried to gain some sort of advantage, Spider-Man was too quick for the Sentinel to hit while the constant laser barrage kept the hero at a distance. With a quick yank of his web string Spider-Man flew back into the air dodging a laser before shooting several web balls at the titan's face to try and blind it. Sadly while its optic sensors did go down its radar did not allowing it to track its opponent just with as much precision as before. "Sheesh, I can't see how the X-Men are able to deal with these alloy thugs, they're relentless" he commented as one of the Sentinel's fists extended from its wrist nearly clobbering Spider-Man with a surprise sucker punch. "Looks like you could use a hand, kid" a voice called out to him. From down below Captain America dashed into the room tossing his shield at the robot's head while simultaneously tackling its ankle. The one-two blow successfully staggered the machine allowing Peter to smash it with a two fisted pound to the forehead which managed to dent the machine a little He followed it up with two more attacks before the Sentinel managed to grab him by the foot and fling him away. Gracefully the arachnid landed next to Cap who had just managed to reclaim his shield on the rebound. "Whatcha doing here Cap" he asked his eyes bugging out "Last I heard you were six feet under." "Here's a better question, why are you working with Stark?" Spider-Man rubbed his head "It's…complicated" he admitted softly before a thunderous groan alerted them to their advancing opponent.

Spider-Man bounded his way to the left while Captain America circled right flanking the robot but to no end. A repulsor blast flew out from behind the machine melting its middle in an instant; the Sentinel fell to the earth with a crash and was no more. Touching down Iron Man's helm lifted up "Are both of you ok" he asked getting nods from both of them. "We had it you know" Spider-Man pointed out, feeling robbed of his victory "It would have been folly to have let that battle continue on for much longer" Captain America chided him. "Did you get Magneto" Tony asked Spider-Man who looked about the room for the metal master only to come up empty. It wasn't just Magneto either, aside from the two broke ones all the other Sentinel units had disappeared leaving only a huge hole in their wake. Peering down into its dark void Peter looked up at his leader "Should we go after them" he asked. Tony shook his head "This looks deep and more than likely Magneto would be waiting for us with an army of Sentinels under his command. We're outmatched and likely to get ambushed, he wins this round." The trio began to make their way back outside of the facility just in time to watch Thor and Hulk take off with the rest of the injured while Laura returned from the mainland.

"The doctors told me that the guard I delivered to them would be ok" she reported as she hopped out of the vehicle "Predictably if Hulk and Thor manage to get there without incident the other four will be safe as well." She turned to look at her compatriots "How did the battle with Magneto fare?" "Not good, he sicced some Sentinels on me then disappeared down the tunnel the others created to escape" Spider-Man replied sighing "There's nothing we can do." "Bullshit' Laura replied before walking past them "If you are too scared to follow him then stay here and mope while I go clean up this mess." She was stopped by her team leader grabbing her shoulder "Think this over Laura, Magneto is an incredibly dangerous mutant with a retinue of killer robots loyally following him, do you think any of us stand a chance against that" Tony said gently but firmly "This sucks but we'll have to wait and see what he tries to do next before we have a chance to take him down." She turned to him, eyes blazing "You do not understand the scope of what this means, Stark. Magneto has never had any problem when it comes to using force to solve an issue. With those Sentinels he could level the city and what you want to do is sit back and wait for the inevitable?"

"Hardly" he scoffed letting go of her "Once we get back to the tower I'll run start running a diagnostics test to see where they've gone. A hole of that size must be easy to pick up if you X-ray the Earth's mantle. Plus I'll even start whipping some programs that'll stop his little robot friends in their tracks once they show back up. In the meantime you and Parker can go around trying to pinpoint his location; he could still be holed up in the city." His words did little to placate her so Captain America tried instead "Listen up soldier, facing the enemy isn't always about trying harder, it's about fighting smarter." He explained in a calm and collected voice "Right now we have to let the enemy get away or risk casualties which we don't need right now. Instead we have the advantage of knowing the size of the enemies' forces which we can use to track him down. I doubt those Sentinel things are easy to hide. Patience is a virtue, soldier." Captain America's words had more of an effect, the tension built up in her shoulder's died and after an agitated huff she crossed her arms and nodded nonchalantly.

"Uh… hey, hate to interrupt this pep rally but…" Spider-Man waved to the area around them "Has anyone seen my Quinjet?" The heroes looked around the area which was bare of anything save the building, the ocean, and the crowd of rescued personnel who were huddled nearby. "The first time you ride it you lose it" Laura asked sarcastically "No wonder you do not have a ride, no one in their right mind would trust you with that kind of absent mindedness." "Hey, how was I supposed to now they enforced the parking laws as strictly here as they do in the city" Spider-Man said defending himself "Besides there's a good reason I don't drive around on my rounds, have you ever tried to find a parking space down town?" Sighing Iron Man rubbed his temples "Cut the quarreling you two. Obviously someone took off with the Quintjet, Laura can you I.D who?" Reluctantly the mutant sniffed around the area where the vehicle had been parked "You are correct, someone took it. Unfortunately I don't recognize the scent." "Don't you have some sort of security on those things Stark" Spider-Man asked which sent a bout of rage swimming through Tony's veins "I had them specially modded for you two in a hurry, I didn't have enough time to put in anti-theft tech because I didn't think you were oblivious enough to let your own Quinjet be stolen." Before it could turn into a full out blame game Captain America grabbed Iron Man by the collar and pulled him a distance away "Stark, why is X-23 here? I was under the impression that her father did not want her to get involved with any missions outside of the X-Men." Tony shrugged dismissively "She wanted to join up and since I was a little short of members I couldn't say no. Besides she's a big girl, she can do anything she wants." This didn't fly with Cap who shot Tony a withering look "I hope you realize that when Wolverine finds out that I won't be the one sweeping up what's left of you."

The billionaire was unfazed by the threat "Would you care to take her place instead?" That remark drudged up some bad memories for the both of them "Leave Parker and Kinney out of this, Stark. This isn't the time to bring children into a situation like this." "What do you know of the situation, Steve" Tony barked back "Besides both of them have plenty of experience under their belts, they don't need any handholding." "I beg to differ; I've seen kids like them before. Bright, earnest, unaware of the dangers and horrors they'll face during the job and in time they'll crack. I couldn't live with myself of I let them participate, especially now that we've been thrown into another world." He shot a pointed look at Tony "I don't appreciate you hiding that from me." "How'd you figure it out" Ton asked bitterly. "Thor tried to return to Asgard a few days ago but couldn't, something is keeping him from accessing the Bifrost." To his dismay Tony realized Captain America had unearthed a clue that had eluded him for the past week or so. Even if they were in another world/dimension/whatever there was only one dimension that held the elder Viking gods which should have been accessible from any dimension. The fact that Thor wasn't able to contact his family meant that someone was blocking his way, someone powerful if they were able to shut down the Bifrost.

"So, what are you going to do about it" Tony asked crossing his arms. "We'll see if whoever is doing this has malevolent intentions; if they do then the Avenger's will stop them." Cap replied "And if they don't" Tony remarked "Maybe this was an accident or something." The billionaire waited for an answer but got none "Steve…" he said with suspicion lacing his voice "What happens when you find the guy who did this, are you going to demand he let you go home?" The first Avenger turned away unable to face looking at Tony "If this isn't a plan to hurt the world then I see no reason to return home." Tony's jaw dropped "You want to stay in this world don't you" he accused his former companion "You're mad that you died in the real world and now that you've got a second chance you're planning on picking up where you left off, aren't you." The star spangled hero rounded on him "I want to live Tony, is that such a crime? I have a second shot at life and I plan to pursue it, I love what I do." "Have you told your team members of this little plan of yours?" Tony asked to which his former friend nodded "They agree with my desires and if I help them find out who did this then they see no reason to force me back into death's embrace."

"Steve, listen to me, I know how hard it was for the world to lose you. Really, I do." Stark began slowly "But the dead have to stay dead, we've seen before what happens when people try to overcome it. Most of them we've fought, when you try to cheat death it messes with your head in some way." "I imagine if I had boobs like Ms. Grey my wanting to live wouldn't be such a big deal." Captain America sniped hoping to turn Tony's newest playmate into his clinching argument. "Hate to break your little bubble Steve but Jean is fighting to return to our dimension. She accepts the fact she's died and wants to set things right." Albeit, the reason Jean wanted to die was more complex than doing what was right in the eyes of the fates but Steve didn't need to know that. "Ms. Grey can do whatever she wants but I intend to continue my life's work" Captain America replied with an air of finality. "I see" Tony replied turning around and stalking out the door "But I am going home and if I have to go through you I won't hesitate to send you back for round two with the reaper." As he watched the hero storm away he thought cynically to Jean 'That guy is unbelievable, always spouting off how heroes need to be noble and self-sacrificing then he tries to pull a stunt like this.' He paused, waiting for the red head's reply, but he never got one. A chill shot up his spine and without a word he blasted his way out the ceiling and made a beeline for his home.

Meanwhile as the heroes continued to widen the rifts between themselves a red and blue arachnid themed Quintjet was barreling over the roofs of the skyscrapers in downtown New York. Inside a certain raven haired girl in a lab coat was giggling along with a lego-esque robot that stood at the same height as her knee cap. "What a bunch of jokers" she said tossing the horn rimmed fake glasses she had been wearing for the past week or so "To think those idiots managed to create something so cute and powerful but surrounded it with a security force that was as effective as wet tissue paper."The little robot chirped something indecipherable to the human ear but Tron Bonne reacted violently. With an enraged gasp she kicked the robot up against the front window and pressed on his helpless body with the toe of her leg. "What did you say to me #42" she snarled getting a small, muffled scream from the robot.

"That what I thought" she said releasing the robot who cowered on the floor of the Quintjet "Besides that intruder sped up my plan by a few days, he didn't enable me to steal those giant robots. I had the plan all figured out, I know I could have done it by myself." Glancing up she managed to see the outline of something massive and human shaped zooming high above the stratosphere just out of the eye range of a normal human being. The four Sentinels she had stolen were going to be a lot of fun to play with.

It was silly, he had a perfectly good bike waiting for him at the harbor but he had chosen to hoof his way to Stark Tower by foot, fueled entirely by the swarm of emotions that he had considered to be as buried as she was. Panting Logan looked up at Stark Tower from a block away, a multitude of construction crews had descended on the building and had begun to repair it with a speed and efficiency that shamed the city's construction labor force. Despite having took heavy damage a few days ago from a super villain's attack, or so Stark Industries claimed. Even under the gypsum, the pollution, and the scent of millions who walked this street everyday he could smell her. Completely indistinguishable as it had been a decade ago, even though he wasn't particularly sentimental Wolverine found himself quaking from the powerful emotions at the memories the smell of her perfume brought back. For one, long moment he stood there like a loony on the sidewalk wondering what he was going to do. He was going to see her of course, but then again maybe not, besides what in hell would they talk about? 'Hey there Jean, nice to see you back from the dead, let's pick off where we left off, eh" said one of many scenarios which whiplashed about his head at a mile per minute.

Ultimately it wasn't him that was drawn to Jean, it was his body that had not stopped heaving even though he had managed to catch his breath a while ago. Moving on autopilot he stepped forward, his chin was still craning to glimpse at the highest story which was reflecting the sun with a bright intensity. As he entered the lobby a quick flash of red hair made him tense but a second later he relaxed. The hair in question was a much lighter strawberry blond in comparison to the blood red tresses she sported. "Why Mr. Logan, I wasn't expecting to see you today" Pepper greeted with a big smile as she approached the fellow Avenger "I'm sorry to say that Mr. Stark isn't around right now. You can relax in a one of the upstairs lounges if you want till he gets back." Tired of this bullshit he grabbed Pepper by the arm and dragged her close "Where's Jean" he growled, his tone treading the line between dangerous and urgent. Taken aback, it took a second for Pepper to reply "I-I-I'm sorry Mr. Logan but Mr. Stark has given me strict orders that no one is allowed to see Ms. Grey without his permission." "Knowing Stark he has her under lock and key, and knowing that means that you, his personal secretary, has the only copy of that key" he said before employing his claws with a snikt.

Their edges were a fraction of the inch above Pepper's neck, any lower and they would have started to draw blood from her jugular. The secretary didn't even flinch "I see, I don't want trouble Mr. Logan" even when she was under attack Pepper's voice never wavered from her cheerful, professional tone she took with every guest who entered Stark Tower. "Then just take me to her" the mutant demanded before taking a deep sniff before tacking on "Also I need you to deliver a message to that slimy bastard Tony. I don't know why my daughter is hanging around this Tower but if he knows what's good for him he'll tell her to scram." The other employees around the duo had finally taken notice of what was happening and beginning to panic but Pepper waved them off with a dismissive wave "Get back to work everyone, I'll handle this."

Together the pair boarded the elevator, with a swipe of her card Pepper sent them rocketing to penthouse suite. When they arrived she pointed to the heavy mahogany doors but it was a moot gesture, Wolverine could smell her cloying scent emanating from the door. Ditching his hostage he walked forward in a trance, his thoughts completely blank as his hand rested on the doorknob. A few jerks clued him in to how sturdy the door was and he turned back to the secretary with a scowl "Open the damn door Potts." Pepper shook her head "Sorry, but the deal was I would take her to you. She's behind the door and there she'll stay, I'm sorry Mr. Logan but Mr. Stark was very insistent no one see her." Wordlessly he unsheathing his claws again and took a menacing step towards her but then Jean's voice came wafting from behind the door "Leave her alone Logan." He froze, wondering if this would be the part where he would wake up in a hot sweat with his hormones raging so wildly it would take days for them simmer. But reality did not crash down upon his poor, unfortunate soul "Ms. Potts, thank you for your attempt to stop him but it is fine. Please go back down stairs and don't come back up here."

Even as she was still in Logan's eyesight Pepper closed the elevator and opened her phone, it didn't take Professor X to realize she was calling Tony. Not giving a shit in the slightest Logan walked back over to the door; he could see Jean's shadow dancing from underneath the door. "Is…is it really you" he whispered not trusting his enhanced senses in the slightest, they had been wrong before. "Yes Logan, it's…good to hear your voice." She answered him "I never…I never thought we could chat like this again, even in my wildest dreams." "Me neither" he admitted before jerking the unyielding doorknob "Open up Jean, I need to see you" "I'm sorry Logan I can't" she answered which nearly triggered one of his infamous berserker rages. "Then I'm tearing it down" he roared gripping the handle with both hands "That bastard can't keep me away from you Jean, nothing will." "Nothing, Logan" she asked "Not even me?" He paused "What, why would you…?" "Logan, listen to me" she said gently but firmly "You have to stay away from me, at all costs." "Bullshit" he snarled banging to the door with a barrage of punches "Why the hell would I want to stay away from you. Why the hell would you want to stay away from me? We fucking have another chance at this and you don't want to fucking take it?"

"Logan, we had something once" she replied with the frost of the arctic in her voice "Your friendship means the world to me but it won't work, it never will." "Lies, fucking lies" he screamed back continuing his assault on the doors "I thought about this every single day since you died, I'm willing to do anything, everything, to get you back." "But I'm not" she said which stopped his attack on the only barrier between them completely. For a second she could see his shadow shudder under the door before it grew until it covered the crack running underneath the door. "I won't give up Jean" he said his bass voice as steady as granite "I don't know what the hell is going on but I've been through a lot of shit, before I met you, while we were together and after you died and I can guarantee it that whatever is going on won't be able to stop me from being with you." The shadow under the door disappeared which was followed by the sound of breaking glass then the sound of Logan jumping down the skyscraper using his claws to puncture the anterior wall of Stark Tower to control his descent till he was safely back on the ground. Inside Jean was standing like a statue still by the door trying to understand the magnitude of what had just happened as pondering what the hell she was going to do next.

The next thing she knew the door opened allowing Tony in full iron Man regalia to enter the room with an extremely anxious expression plastering his face. Without a word he grabbed the nearby extinguisher and doused her locks which had spontaneously combusted. "Pepper called me" he explained as he sprayed her "I had a feeling you were in trouble and was heading back here She caught me in midflight. Although, it seems like you managed to deal with him on your own." Waving away the smoke Jean nodded "Yes, I am surprised as well. I thought for sure just having him nearby would be the end of any restraint I had, perhaps this will be easier than I thought?" Tony looked at her with frown before grabbing a nearby rag and polishing his wrist till it shone. He put the reflective piece of armor in front of her so that it would give her a glimpse of reflection and she flinched in response. In the golden surface of the armor her eyes stared back at her, the left one its normal green while the right one had taken on a cruel golden gleam. A few streaks of corrupted red, like rust, had wormed its way through her blood colored hair. "You really weren't kidding when you said Logan brings the Phoenix Force out of you" Tony commented.


	12. Dysfunction Junction

Chapter 12: Dysfunction Junction, How can we Function?

Malice was really getting sick of this pattern of being unconscious for multiple days then waking up in a strange, new place. Thrusting herself up into a sitting position she tangled with her blond bangs for a second to get a better glimpse of where in Utgard she was. Using both hands she thrust the strands upward giving both her eyes a frenetic glance about the room she was in. Luckily no waste filled alley or clinical holding pen came into view of her light blue eyes, instead it proved to be some kind of living quarters. Along with the bed she was sitting on there was a single window letting in some weak sunlight as well as some odd bric-a-brac strewn about the room. There were two doors, one to the direct south of her and one to the left along the north wall. Realizing that her precious Skadi was not in the room made her anxious and dictated her immediate flight from wherever this was. After her last encounter with those Sprites who had strapped her to a table Malice didn't want to be around them till she had her diviner at ready to chop them into mincemeat.

While she could see the city looming below her the window was far too tiny for her to fit her wing span through, leaving the two doors and whatever lay beyond them. Her decision was made for her when something large came through the northern door; with the best battle screech she could muster she tackled her opponent beating its body with slaps from her wings. Her nails slashed about his head as she tried to see if this thing had a throat, it did. Blindly she forced her right hand down its mouth clotting the first, and possibly only, air way. Victory was cut short, however, when the cornered thing proceeded to rip her hand out of its mouth "Stop, I'm not going to hurt you" he insisted as he used his free arm to block a swipe. Something in the back of her mind recalled that there was something about this voice she was interested in. Pausing for a second she swept her bangs back, allowing Malice to lock eyes with the Sprite that seemed to be intertwined with the events befalling her since she arrived in this city.

"Are you some kind of demon" she asked, even if this guy didn't smell like Utgard the fact he had been popping up everywhere certainly supported that he was some kind of curse laying devil spawn. "Umm…pretty sure I'm not" he replied still a bit shocked from her attack "How are you feeling?" She scowled at him "Where is my diviner, Sprite?" "That blue ax thing? I put it in the spare room" he said nodding over to the south door. She pushed herself upright to get off the Sprite when he grabbed her wrist "I'm Chris Redfield" he blurted out getting a puzzled look from Malice "I, I mean…we've been seeing each other so much but we don't even know each other's names." "Your name doesn't interest me Sprite; you said that you appeared in this world without explanation too. Tell me everything you know or what befell the fallen angels at Heaven's Gate will not even begin to describe the pain I will submit you to." Chris took a second to process this, "um…well…it's kind of hard to explain. Once you woke up, the others and I planned to discuss what's going on" Malice looked at him critically "Others?" As if on cue the door opened and a small creature walked into the room "Aw damn! Didn't mean to interrupt the old rhumpy-pumpy there Chris, I'll be out of here in a jiffy and not listening to you two going at it at all." Chris craned his neck up and realized how he and the angel were arrayed could be misconstrued as something else. He fought a faint blush as he opened his mouth to protest but the angel beat him to it "What in Asgard are you, Sprite? I have been to Riviera many times and never once have I seen one of your kind in my travels." Swaggering up to bed he hopped on it so he was right next to the pair "Rocket Raccoon, at your service, love." He tried to kiss the back of her hand but she slapped him off the bed "Touch me again and you will die" she hissed before turning her attention back to Chris "You would be wise, Sprite, to not keep the company of such foolish demons." She admonished him lightly before returning to the more pressing topic "Now that we are gathered I demand you tell me what you know of the circumstances of why we are here."

Chris opened his mouth to explain but Rocket Raccoon interjected "Perhaps the best place for this doozy of a conversation would be the kitchen?" With one paw gripping the bed's edge the poor soul stood up rubbing his head "No doubt the pair of ya are having a grand time as ya are but would be keen to be a part of this conversation as well and I imagine she wouldn't be happy to see the position you two have settled into, savvy?" With a smirk he dashed from the room leaving an oblivious Malice and a simmering Chris. Extracting herself from the Sprite the angel managed to get a glimpse of herself in the mirror "The gods of Asgard, where are my clothes?" Her blue cape and grey robes had been switched for a large shirt that overwhelmed her figure so much that the hem of it managed to cover her all the way down to her mid-thigh. "When we rescued you from that CIA place we couldn't find your clothes so we gave you a spare instead." Chris explained, which did nothing to abate her ire. "When I get my hands on those Sprites…" she growled as she stalked through the door Rocket Raccoon had exited from.

Her anger was quickly replaced by joy the moment she saw Skadi leaning up against the wall next to some sort of contraption before switching back to rage as she spotted the additional occupant of the room. "You" she screamed pointing at the red haired Sprite who had disabled her in such a cowardly manner. To spite her, the redhead merely glanced up at her from her seat at the small breakfast nook where she was drinking a cup of tea. Gnashing her teeth Malice grabbed Skadi ready to cut the fool in twain but Chris grabbed the weapon as well, his hands adjacent to hers on Skadi's handle. "Hold on" he cautioned her as he fought to keep the weapon from wiggling out of his hands. "Move aside or you will join her in Utgard, information or no" she growled at him before realizing what he was doing "How by the counsel of the Seven Magi…!" He was touching her ax and not being frostbitten to death by her diviner, an impossible feat to anyone unless…'Has Skadi given this meager Sprite permission to wield it' she wondered feeling shocked and a bit betrayed. Her reverie was interrupted by a hand being placed on her shoulder "Look, I know was the one to take you to that lab but she also helped us get you here. She's in the same boat we're in so we need to cooperate with her." "I'd rather die than let that treacherous worm aid me" she spat back.

"If it's an apology you want then I'm sorry" said, she didn't sound all that apologetic though. "I will accept it along with your head" Malice snarled back. "Ok, everyone, just knock it off" Chris said drawing upon the voice he used to command S.T.A.R.S as well as his B.S.A.A troop "I know we're not the best of friends right now but we need to discuss what's been happening whether we like it or not." With a mighty yank he pulled Skadi out of Malice's hands "You don't need this to talk so I'll hold onto it until we're done." She shot him a scathing look but sat down at the breakfast nook without fuss across from . Chris sat between the both of them at the head of the nook while Rocket Raccoon bucked basic etiquette climbing on top of the table and sitting cross-legged, his back resting against the wall where the nook was connected to the wall. It was a bit cramped, Malice's wingspan did nothing to alleviate this, but it would have to do. For a brief second no one talked, they were all too busy eyeing one another either curiously in or in contempt, Deciding to take command, Chris sighed "Alright let's summarize the basics then we can each give our side of the story, that way we can compare notes and maybe find some clues as to who or what is doing this to us."

"We know that we're in a different world, a different universe perhaps if Rocket Raccoon's story is any indication. We were transferred to this world against our will while we were sleeping. We're probably not the only ones that this has happened to." Rocket Raccoon shot him a curious look "Why do say that, mate?" "When I first came here I fought against someone I knew, and who I thought was dead." Chris explained "In hindsight I think he knew I had arrived and was waiting to ambush me." "Interesting" commented taking a sip of her tea "Perhaps he knows the force that gathered us here, tracking him down should be a high priority." Mentally Chris felt himself relax, he had been worrying about what Wesker was up to but if he could combine his search for the Tricell agent along with finding out how they got here, it would make his life so much easier.

The next hour was spent on how each individual at the table got there, where they had woken up, how they had found out about the different world they now inhabited, as well as some background of who they were. A few interesting facts also managed to surprise everyone at the table, the fact that Chris knew that it had been Wesker who had started the zombie invasion for one thing. To Malice's astonishment Rocket Raccoon claimed to know one of the gods of Asgard "He's a bloke by the name of Thor, a good chap if not a bit daft and danger prone." The intergalactic creature admitted giving Malice a description of the god which frustrated her quite a bit. His weapon and ability to call lightning seemed to fit the bill but she couldn't remember if his countenance had been sculpted on the walls of the cathedral in Asgard. She had never paid much attention to the gods unlike the majority of the pre-Ragnarok residents so her memory of the deceased gods' names was fuzzy at best.

"Whoever did this must be quite powerful" the angel commented as they were ruminating over each other's stories "Why do say that" asked "How do you know it's a person? It could be a force or some sort of cosmic accident." Malice rolled her eyes "Massive coincidences are not something anyone should believe in, this entire scheme was planned from the start by a sentient being. The fact that this being, for whatever purpose, managed to abduct me from Asgard is very alarming." The dull looks of puzzlement on their faces made Malice mentally facepalm, they didn't know squat about Asgard. "After Ragnarok, which was a great war between gods and demons, the Seven Magi beefed up the security of the city quite a bit." She explained "Sneaking into the city and kidnapping me without being noticed by the security measures should have been impossible." "So, what are you saying" Rocket Raccoon asked scratching his head "We're dealing with some sort of god or something here?" Malice shook her head "Even a god would have been noticed, it would have had to have been with a considerable amount of knowledge and power." "Let's pair that with the fact we still don't why this person is gathering us here" Chris added "They went through all that trouble but we've been wandering around like blind mice ever since we got here."

Everyone grew quiet as they tried to come up with some explanation but in the end they all admitted that they were in dire need of more information. "Alright blokes, we've gathered and crafted this little fellowship of lost souls but what in bloody hell are we supposed to do next" Rocket Raccoon asked. "Tracking down that Wesker person sounds like a good idea right now" stated finishing her tea "He probably knows something." "Gathering information in general is probably the best thing to do" Chris admitted "If there are more like us then it's imperative we hear their side of the story, there could be clues that might lead us to whomever is conducting this from behind the scenes." The group nodded tersely "Why don't and I start the search on the internet" Rocket Raccoon reasoned "Maybe if search about the events that happened during that zombie invasion we might find someone who could be like us." Chris nodded "That's not a bad idea; I'll even join you while you're at it. I would like to see what sort of B.O.W.s Wesker used." The trio left allowing Malice to wander about the living space, it wasn't terribly big. Other than the kitchen, the bedroom she had woken up in, a second bedroom that lie behind the southern door as well as a master bath that lay behind to the right of the second bedroom the only other door led outside into the corridor of the large building they were in. Running a hand through her grimy hair Malice decided to take a bath, Asgard knows she needed one.

While the other Sprites worked some sort of rectangular device in the first bedroom Malice entered the room which was plastered from top to bottom in off white tile. Carefully peeling off the large tee shirt she checked her body to make sure those strange Sprites in the metal lab hadn't done anything weird to her. Aside from several small holes where the needles had been stuck in she didn't find any new scars. The room itself was filled with many strange contraptions, Malice had it in her mind that some sort of hot springs would be located below the building and have the water pumped somehow way to the higher floors but clearly she was wrong. Instead of a nice warm bath there was a weird basin there was about three feet high and made of a material that looked like marble but without the streaks. A metal contraption hung above the basin along with two metal knobs attached to the wall. A little experimentation proved to go a long way, the angel quickly found out that a stream of water could be jettisoned from the overhead device by turning one of the knobs and that one knob corresponded to hot while the other corresponded to cold.

After spritzing herself several times with scalding hot water Malice eventually found that perfect balance before tackling the next the problem; how to get in. The basin was surrounded by three walls, two half walls that encompassed the eastern and western parts of the basin and a large northern wall that boxed the entire contraption in. By standing there with her facing to the east Malice would press up against her left wing, crushing it under the odd angle. To compensate she had to enter the shower facing north which hindered her ability to get clean, the stream from the overhead device fell mostly on her right wing. Folding them back as much as she could Malice drew as close to the water as she could using her arm to channel the water above her head. One she was sufficiently wet the angel turned her attention to the cleaning products that had been left there by the Sprites. The bar of soap she recognized as it was similar to her own world; sadly the smell of it confirmed that Elemina Mint was not an ingredient used in its creation. Deprived of the wonderful effect the herb had on her skin Malice turned to the other product that sat on the rim of the basin. It was concealed in a bottle made of a strange material that was transparent like glass but pliable instead of brittle. A blue substance was inside it, the label claimed that it was shampoo and that it was smelled like an ocean breeze. Clueless as to what shampoo was Malice took a quick whiff of the contents and grimaced, it smelled nothing like the sea. Abashed by the merchant's blatant lies Malice considered bringing this up with the Sprites outside but on second thought she shrugged, if the poor fools were too sheltered to have actually gone to the ocean then they deserved to be suckered.

Curious, she turned the bottle upside down and squeezed a drop of the liquid into her palm. It was gooey like tree sap, coating her hand easily but quickly washed away by the falling water. For a moment Malice thought it was a potion of some kind, perhaps one of the Sprites liked to get a bit snookered while he or she was bathing? However, a quick lick of the gooey mess proved her wrong; even the most potent of potions wouldn't taste so vile. Bored of exploring this strange new world Malice placed the mysterious jar back onto the rim of the shower and began to lather up with mint-less soap. After a while Malice stepped out of the shower feeling much better and cleaner than she had since she had arrived in this gods-forsaken world. As luck would have a hair brush was located in a small containment unit hanging over the mirror along with some more mysterious items. The red strands caught in the prongs clued her in that this was most likely brush. The thought of that loathsome Sprite made Malice tremble with rage but unable to procure a brush of her own she repressed her rage as she angrily plucked out as many of the long red strands as she could. Standing in front of the mirror, naked, and dripping wet from head to toe Malice began the lengthy amount of time it took to brush her waist long hair.

Once she was satisfied with the job she placed the brush back, by this time most her body had dried off. Grabbing the shirt off the floor Malice examined it critically; it was huge on her. It was a muted shade of green with very short sleeves. Logically it would be the property of that large Sprite, the one that was built like a golem or perhaps one of those ogres that infested the Ruins of Nelde. "Chris" she whispered to herself as she pierced the garment with her gaze "His said his name was Chris." An odd name for a Sprite, maybe, but then again it wasn't like she studied them and their naming rituals. Putting the shirt on proved to be herculean effort, her wings were once again getting in the way. Pulling it over her head would be hell on her wings, quite possibly being enough of a force to snap the smaller bones that she needed if she wanted to fly. Luckily the collar was pliable enough for her pull the entire garment up her legs and onto her waist, a bit of wiggling allowed her to pull it up high enough for it to cover her boobs adequately without hampering her wings at all. Tying the two short sleeves behind her like some kind of ribbon to keep the ensemble from slipping down Malice studied it in the mirror.

She looked like some sort of poor unfortunate soul sucking the moss off of rocks to live but it would have to make due for now, her poor robes had been taken by those ignorant Sprites. Malice pounded her fist into the wall seething with anger but she quickly recovered trying her best to focus on the silver linings. This world was full of Sprites and once she got back in touch with Master Hector, who was no doubt at this very moment searching frantically for his loyal servant, she could take Skadi and reap the souls of all of them. With that wonderful thought back in her mind she exited the bathroom returning to the first bedroom where the trio of Sprites was pondering something. "Says here mate some lass named Chun Li was the one responsible for stopping the invasion." Rocket Raccoon commented his back to the angel. "I know who that is, I've fought with her a few times" said "I'm positive she's been displaced like me." Rocket Raccoon looked up "Fought with her, not on the best of terms are ya, love?" shrugged nonchalantly "We're not enemies, our goals have sometimes set us against each other and we settle our differences with a martial arts fight." "Sounds like an enemy to me" the Guardian of the Galaxy pointed out "Anywho it seems like she's gotten into a bad punch up n the looks of things; says here she's at St. Meriata hospital."

At this point Malice noted the large Sprite, 'Chris' the memory popped into her head unbidden, had turned a vivid shade of scarlet and was squirming about uncomfortably. While she wondered if he was on the verge of collapse or something the other two had noticed his affliction and followed his stare. "God save the queen" Rocket Raccoon muttered under his breath in awe "Shame about the cup size though." didn't say anything choosing instead to whip out her palm pilot and add under the to-do list for today, which included meeting with Chun Li and buying groceries with their dwindling funds, to buy clothes for the angel. Unaware of the spectacle she was making Malice sat down at the edge of the bed and crossed her arms. "What's the plan" she asked tersely eyeing her weapon which Chris had placed near the door to the kitchen. The two men were unable to answer her reply "Chris and I will go visit a person we believe to be in the same circumstances we are. In the meantime you and Rocket Raccoon will stay here." Malice dismissively ran a hand through her clean hair "I won't take orders from you Sprite; I will come and go as I please."

The agent shot her a baleful look "That would be unwise, the CIA is still after us and maintaining a low profile for now will be necessary if we don't want all the branches of the military pursuing us. Your wings, I presume, cannot be easily concealed and no doubt you will cause quite a stir if people saw you." Malice opened her mouth to protest but Chris shook out of his hormonally induced stupor and laid a hand on her knee "It's not going to be all that interesting anyway. We're just going in to be speaking to her about stuff we've already summarized beforehand." Mollified, somewhat, Malice huffed and blew a stray strand of hair out of her face "Bring back something interesting then, my patience with this charade is already starting to wear thin." With a nod the Sprite pair left quickly before the angel could change her mind leaving only the not-demon thing alone with her. "Well love, it looks like it's just you and me for the duration" Rocket Raccoon commented with a sly smile "What do ya say to a game of cards then?" Malice quirked an eyebrow "Cards, I don't see how tarot cards will help entertain us." The Guardian rolled his eyes "Not sodding tarot cards, love. Cards, cards, the kinds you play bridge with. Don't tell me those sodders in Asgard don't know what the bleeding hell cards are?"

Annoyed with her companion's snarky attitude the blonde lifted him by the collar up to her eye level "I don't suppose that whatever pit that spawned you knows what thumb screws are?" "Oy, oy, easy there lass, didn't mean to rile ya." Rocket Raccoon hastily said waving his paws in front of his face "Ain't any shame in not knowing what cards are. If you're in half a mind I can school ya in their uses, less you'd rather bum about here sitting on your thumbs?" Placing him back down on the bed the angel crossed her arms "Seeing as how I have nothing better to do I might as well." With a grin the space creature reached into the coat pocket of his uniform and extracted a rectangular box with artistic designs etched all over it. "Alright, baby steps first. I think the Earthlings call it Go Fish, banal as hell name, but it's easy enough to pick up I suppose." Flipping open the top he pulled out all 52 cards and began to shuffle them with the ease and style of a Las Vegas dealer.

Meanwhile Chris and had decided to hoof it on foot to the hospital, partly to cut down on the cost of taking a cab or a subway and partly because it was so nice out. For the middle of summer the weather had cooled somewhat for some reason allowing New York's weather to come the closest it could ever be to something that might have resembled pleasant. The pair walked in silence, neither of them were disposed to small talk leaving them grasping for something more substantial to comment on. Chris absentmindedly scratched his shoulder, since the angel was using his shirt for clothing had taken the liberty of getting him a thin white cotton one from a second hand store, it wasn't a perfect fit for his powerful frame and with every step he took the hem would jerk up just enough to give a passerby a quick peek as his belly button. "Could you please share some more information about this Wesker character with me?" suddenly piped up as they turned a busy corner "When we find him I doubt he'll go quietly so any information about his fighting style would be helpful."

Chris sighed and rubbed his short brown hair "It's gone through an unbelievable change recently. A couple years ago he was like us, normal, he was a great shot with tons of guns, knew a decent level of Krav Maga, he was a pretty good leader too." "You said he was once normal" commented pushing her glasses farther up her nose "Does that mean he changed in some way? Was it by spiritual or scientific means?" "Scientific, I gave you a basic rundown about the T-Virus, right?" She nodded and he continued "Well, the scientists at Umbrella were always trying to evolve it up to the next level, the G-Virus, Uroboros, etc. Apparently in the sixties they began their work on something known as the Progentior virus which could be implanted into a very specific set of people in order to give them ridiculous powers. Wesker, as my rotten luck would have it, had the perfect blood type to reap all the benefits as long as he took precisely measured doses of serum at certain times. Without the serum the virus will begin to turn him into any other zombie. With the virus he's super strong, superfast to the point where he can move faster than the eye can keep up and he's got such a powerful regeneration he can take Magnum bullets in the chest and keep smirking." processed all this information quietly; it sounded a lot like the kind of junk that S.I.N would play around with. "It seems like you hold quite a grudge against him, is it personal?" Out of the corner of her eye she saw him tense up "None of your business" he growled abrasively.

She shrugged "Sorry, didn't mean to dig too deep." Heedless of her apology she saw him snarl at the air, no doubt from the memories she had accidentally drudged up, signifying that clearly there was some vendetta between the two she should be mindful of when they faced Wesker down. All too often she had been in a situation where an ally of hers had been confronted by someone they held a deep intimate hate for. Unerringly it would always end badly, when you had that amount of emotional trauma pent up inside you it would manifest at the worst times harming everyone around you. 'Perhaps it would be best if I tried to take Wesker down myself' thought as she studied Chris' profile discreetly. Lightly she tapped him on the shoulder to snap him out of his vengeance induced hate daydream "Try to look a little less threatening; you're beginning to make a scene." Indeed, all the pedestrians who were walking down the sidewalk had opted to give Chris a large berth thanks to the scary look on his face, some even skirted dangerously close to the curb where cars sped past.

Eventually they made it safely to St. Meriata's hospital where a nurse gave them the room number where Ms. Li was staying. As they approached the door they were surprised to hear the sound of voices emanating from her room. "-the hell you are Laura. Listen to me, Stark is a guy with a shady agenda, trust me, I would know. He doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone if it means he can achieve his goals, he'll stab you in the back the moment he can profit for him." This was a man's voice, rough like gravel in a blender. "I believe that you are as aware of the situation as I am." A new one, female this time but with a hint of rawness to it "I know about Mr. Stark's less than stellar record with the super human community but I do not think we can unravel this mystery by ourselves." "Bullshit Laura, you know as well as I do that we can figure this out on our own. There's no need to partner up with Stark or anyone else for that matter." "Were you aware that Magneto is here? We found him in Trask Industries and he managed to place an entire squadron of Sentinel units under his command. We both know that we are…not the ideal pair to deal with him and we are both painfully aware of his goals. Allies will be necessary if we wish to apprehend him."

The male voice sighed "Listen Laura, I'm just concerned for your safety. I've seen too many of my friends get hurt by that bastard for me not to feel paranoid that you're on his team. I know I haven't been the best…dad…" There was a muffled sound, perhaps the female had covered his mouth "You are not and never will be my dad, regardless of the circumstances of my birth. I have managed to take care of myself long before you came along and I will do just fine on Stark's Avengers. What I need from you is to go back to whatever beer stained hall you strolled in from and sit there until I have figured this out." The sharp clack of heels could be heard briefly before a tall and lanky teenager sped out of the the room and stormed down the hallway. "Aw, shit, wait a sec-"a short, burly man in a leather jacket began to follow her before he got a glimpse of Chris and . "Well ain't you a couple of asses for eaves dropping on my conversation" he commented angrily "Since you like standing around in the hospital so much why don't I put you in here permanently?" Not affected by the wild looking man's demeanor crossed her arms "Forgive us for waiting for you to finish your visit with Ms, Li but we wanted to see her too. By the by I doubt that having screaming matches outside of her room is conducive to her health." "What the hell do two want with Chun" he asked stepping back a bit so he bodily blocked their way into her room. "That's none of your business" Chris pointed out "Why did you come to see Ms. Li?" "The hell I'm telling you, bub" the man barked back "Why don't you take your bimbo and get the hell outta here."

Chris could see the man tense up and from the corner of his eye he could tell that was beginning to as well. Before an all-out brawl could happen a teenager in a white lab coat strolled up to the trio "What the hell do you think you're doing" she asked sharply "This is a hospital, not a bar. If you want to brawl then take it outside, or else." The teen was fairly diminutive with black hair that curled upward at the ends, the name tag on her jacket read 'Dr. Tron Bonne M.D'. "Aren't you a little young to be a doctor" the wild man commented baring his teeth. "Aren't you a little old to be wearing diapers" Dr. Bonne shot back waving a hand in front of her nostrils "Or at least I hope to heaven that's what that smell is. Regardless, it's still visiting hours and I have not received a notice that these two are not allowed to visit Ms. Li. If you are going to be a hindrance then I will call security." Silently the man shot all of them a grade A death gaze before retreating down the hall leaving only a bitter taste in their mouths and a horrifying stench in the air.

"Thanks for the help" Chris commented gagging slightly from the stench "Who was that guy?" The doctor raised her shoulders "Apparently he's been visiting Ms. Li ever since she arrived here a few days ago. I've only heard the scuttle but from the nurses but the description alone is more than enough to I.D him." She waved a hand at the door "I believe you wanted to see Ms. Li?" The trio entered the room which was filled with a bounty of cards and flowers. Absentmindedly picked one of the bigger cards up and read the inside of it.

_Get well soon Ms. Li, we'll never forget how you saved us from disaster _

_ -Pepper Potts and the employees of Stark Industries _

The patient in question was out like a light, aside from her face which was coated in a thin sheen of sweat the rest of her body was hidden under a blanket. Taking notice of the myriad of machinery around the Interpol agent asked "What happened to her?" Professionally the doctor picked up the medical chart from the foot of the bed "She came in with some pretty bad bruises, even a few cracked ribs" Dr. Tron commented before examining the chart "Oh and sprained ankle apparently. She's on a regiment of heavy duty pain killers so she'll be out for the next couple of days still. Even after she wakes up it might be weeks before she can resume active service again." The doctor put the chart back at the foot of the bed "She's quite lucky though, apparently she got these wounds fighting a giant robot over at Stark Industries. All the employees there have sent her a get well card; even the mayor's office sent a bouquet." She pointed to the massive floral display that had been squeezed into the upper left corner of the room that seemed to be composed of every flower known to mankind. "Did that weird guy give her a gift or something" Chris asked but the doctor only shrugged "Hell if I know, I don't have time to snoop through a patient's paraphernalia." As if to demonstrate how busy she was the diminutive Dr. Bonne checked Ms. Li's vital signs before rushing out the door "You've got two more hours before visiting hours are over" she reminded them as she left.

"Well, it looks like we won't be able to get any information from her for a while" Chris commented dourly. "Not a big setback all things considered, we've got a big enough lead to follow for now." commented "Can you give me a second; I'm going to grab a card for her." Swinging down the hall, entered the elevator and shot down to the lobby where she grabbed the most inane card she could find before returning to the room. Grabbing a pen from the nurses' station she jotted down a quick message which Chris curiously looked at "Rocket Raccoon was right you know, you really are enemies aren't you?" gave him a small smirk "Not really, she's just fun to irritate." Placing the card in a prominent position by her bedside the pair exited the room and began to make their way down onto the street.

While they exited the elevator into the lobby several stories above them Dr. Bonne had opened the door to the roof and skipped her way across it. "This is the best day ever" she announced waving a memory stick above her head. Those Sentinel units she had stolen had proven to be very valuable very quickly. With a few minor tweaks she had augmented their sensors to allow them to find the greatest source of her irritation (and not her adoration because she was not in any way interested him romantically), Megaman. To her great delight they had located him in seconds and to her great puzzlement the blue bomber had found it prudent to hide himself with a memory stick. His wacky reasons aside Tron Bonne now had said memory stick, turning it into his prison unless he did what she told him to do. At the edge of the roof was parked Gustaff, her mecha vehicle, and once she hopped in she took off by dashing among the rooftops. Putting him on autopilot she relaxed as he returned to base rubbing the memory stick with her thumb as she began to envision exactly what horrors she would enact upon that little pest (who she absolutely did not love).

Malice proved herself to be very adept at cards, within three rounds of Go-Fish she demanded they play something more mentally stimulating. Their games evolved quickly from war to poker to gin rummy to the most elegant and entertaining card game of them all: bridge. Unfortunately without enough people to play all the pair could do was go over the rules of the game, which suit trumped which and some basic scenarios one may find themselves in while they were playing. At one point Malice's stomach began to growl and a surprising question popped into her head, when was the last time she had eaten anything. Tossing her hand down on the bed she stalked into the kitchen and began opening cupboards. In the bulky metallic contraption near the door she snagged some weird fruit. They were mutant strains of banangos and mepples but a cautionary bite into them proved that they were neither dangerous nor inedible. Embarrassingly, by the end of her little "snack" she had effectively cleared out most of the food in the cold storage unit. "Bloody hell lass, if yer were that peckish would it have killed ya to give me warning" Rocket Raccoon commented as he viewed the path of destruction the angel had carved through their foodstuffs "Are all ya angels such…pigs?"

"I've had to endure two Angel Awakenings, a brief stint with highly inhospitable Sprites who saw fit to try and dissect me, plus I've haven't eaten anything real since I got here" she shot back before chugging down the rest of the milk straight from the carton "Why don't you go get us more?" ""Could if I would lass but I don't got a quid to my name." "I don't see how hard it would be to get more food, surely you Sprites grow your own" Malice said "It's a wee bit more complicated than that but even so it's a moot point lass, the minute we place our pinkies on the sidewalk these sodding Earthlings will go ape shit." "Then all we have to do is not be seen." Malice reasoned grabbing Skadi who was propped up by the refrigerator before opening the door of the apartment. A quick scan of the corridor proved that it was empty allowing the Grim Angel to make her way onto the roof with a discouraging Rocket Raccoon following in her footsteps. "What the bloody hell do you think you're up to "he demanded as he watched her stretch her wings "I hate being cooped up in the living quarters too but we've got to keep a low profile." Heedless of his warning the blonde hovered into the air, hesitating a moment to find a slight breeze, before flying off to the right of the building. Cursing wildly Rocket Raccoon began to chase after her using the rooftops as a path way.

It took a bit of creativity but Malice found that the best way to gather food was to create a distraction long enough to swoop down and pluck the stuff from the hands of oblivious Sprites. The distraction part of the scheme always fell onto the reluctant shoulders of Rocket Raccoon whose knack for big and flashy traps proved to be the perfect cover. A hapless customer of one of the millions of food trucks, that occupied New York like cockroaches, found himself bowled over by random log trap as he tried to dine on his burgers and fries. As he stood up, wondering if there was still time to get the license plate on whatever vehicle had just blindsided him, he would find to his confusion that his overpriced dinner had disappeared completely leaving only a hastily rigged log trap in its place. The spree continued for quite some time allowing both extra-terrestrials to sample a large buffet of food.

Sitting atop the highest tier of the Brooklyn Bridge the pair finished off their latest plunder while absorbing the scenery around them. "Do ya think Chris and will be pissed when they found out we've snuck out?" Rocket Raccoon aimlessly wondered aloud causing Malice to snort "Who cares?" She brushed her bangs away looking out over the city "If you're so worried about it we can grab some more food for them." "Oy,oy, cut them a wee bit of slack lass, they are trying to help us get home, no?" Before she could reply Rocket Raccoon stood up from his perch, balanced precariously on one of the wires that made up the suspension bridge, while his ears swiveled about wildly in search of something "What's wrong" she whispered also standing up with her diviner in front of her but all she got was a shushing from her companion. A few moments passed before Rocket Raccoon turned to her, his tail bushy "Och, something ain't right, I can feel it in me bones. Let's get onto more solid ground." With a nod she tucked the small creature under her arm before grabbing the winds with her black wings. Had either of them looked back at where they had been feasting beforehand they might have caught a glimpse of something shady materialize for the briefest of moments before evaporating back into nothingness.

Chris and were less than pleased by the two's impromptu tour of the city and its finest eateries. "I realize that there's not a whole lot to keep you entertained here but it's important that we keep a low profile for now" Chris chided them the minute they stepped back into the apartment. "Ah give it a rest mate, besides it's not like we up and forgot about you two Eartlings" Rocket Raccoon said trying to mollify their roommates "Here, I don't know what the bloody hell this is but I managed to tuck in seventeen of these little buggers." He handed several samosas to Chris while Malice shoved a thing of nachos into 's hands. "You're welcome" the angel remarked coolly but was not interested in a half-hearted peace offering "What part of stay here don't you get?" Setting the nachos on the counter she pushed her glasses higher up her nose as she shot a glare at the angel "I didn't ditch the CIA so they could recapture you again. Knowing the protocol they've most likely launched a well concealed man hunt to find out where you are. New York is a big place but if you keep flittering around they'll find us in no time."

Shrugging dismissively Malice turned around without rebuttal but managed to smack the agent in the face with one of her wings. Before an argument could start Chris stepped in "Look, I know the rules are strict but this is for our own good. Once we get an idea where Wesker is hanging around there'll be more to do around here." His words fell upon deaf ears and for the remainder of the day he had to put up with terse replies whenever he tried to start a conversation with his roommates. The only real other event that day was tiff between Malice and in regards to the clothing the agent had brought back with her for the angel. "I don't see why you don't like anything I bought, this isn't to look good in, it's so you can get out of that stupid shirt." The red head stated evenly as she watched her blonde roommate systematically denounce every article of clothing had procured. "I am not looking for fashion Sprite" Malice bit back "I am looking for something that might have resembled my old clothes which you and your agency stole from me." "For the last time I did not steal your clothes, the lab guys took them in order to examine what material they were made of." replied.

Huffing Malice swept about, smacking both Chris and with her wings "Regardless of whether or not you admit to robbing me blind I will not wear such clothing." To demonstrate her point she picked up a grey camisole with short sleeves "Look at how threadbare this is. The higher I fly, the colder it gets, and this…thing will not keep me warm." "And that oversized shirt you're wearing will?" snorted before turning around and walking out the door. Logically was correct, much to Malice's annoyance; Chris' shirt did little to help her keep warm. Her little trek with Rocket Raccoon proved as much but for some reason Malice wanted to keep it and the only way she could lay claim to it without appearing irrational was if she had to continue to wear it. Storming past Rocket Raccoon who was entertaining himself with a tame game of Solitaire Malice bucked the rules and made her way up to the rooftop. The night air was pleasantly warm as it kissed her face and after a brief's moment deliberation she opted not to take a little stroll in air choosing instead to sit on the edge of the roof and observe the city down below.

No matter how many times she saw it the population of the Sprites that infested this region continued to amaze her. Unconsciously she began to stroke Skadi's shaft as she tried to predict how long it would take for her to harvest the souls necessary for master Hector's scheme. Initially it would have been a year longer had she not found this place, while Sprites lived in small droves about it, The Promised Land sometimes proved to be a barren hunting ground. It could take her weeks of wandering to stumble across a hidden enclave of Undines or Dryads or Sylph, entire periods of soul famine during which Master Hector was continually on her case about the quota for that month needing to be filled and how very little time was left. But now with this breadbasket of Sprites crawling beneath her feet it could take a day or two, perhaps mere hours, before she exceeded the number of souls they required. The very thought gave Malice goose bumps and she was so engrossed by her calculations she failed to hear the person sneaking up in front of her.

"Nice view, isn't it" Chris said plopping down next to her, two odd objects in his hands "What do you want" Malice asked annoyed that her private time was being intruded upon. "Nothing in particular" he confessed sounding a bit embarrassed which only made her more exasperated, were Sprites always so dependent on superficial interaction. "I know that it has to be hard on you being cooped up in this strange world" the B.S.A.A member said gesturing to the scenery in front of them "But you don't have to do this alone if you don't want to." Malice rolled her eyes "Thanks for the support" but her non verbal cues managed to get through…somewhat. "Damn, I've never been very good with this" he admitted 'This was usually Jill's job.' His guilt was broken by something cold and sticky falling down onto his knuckles "Oh damn, their already melting" he said before offering her one of things he was holding "Want one?" "What is it" she asked disdainfully, the thing was blue and rectangular and attached to a brown stick. "Its sea salt ice cream" Chris explained "There's a vendor around the block that sells these and I've never heard of the flavor before."

Peering at the weird thing she plucked it from Chris' grasp "What is ice cream" she asked sniffing it, it smelled like the ocean. "They don't have ice cream in Asgard" Chris asked his lips twitching up into a smirk "That seems a little odd for heaven." "I can't see how this treat is worthy being present in the halls of Asgard" she scoffed but she licked it regardless. At first her face puckered at the initial wave of saltiness but after a quick second an underlying tone of sweetness began to blossom, starting from her lips before coating her entire mouth. The two flavors intermingled pleasantly which were renewed with each subsequent lick of the ice cream. Sadly Malice didn't pace herself and within moments the delicious blue treat was gone leaving only a small brown stick that had 'Sorry, try again' written on it. Lifting it up to the ambient street light she looked at Chris quizzically "Sometimes you'll get one and it says 'Winner'" Chris explained "When you do you can turn it in for a free one. The angel nodded before shooting a discreet glance at the sea salt ice cream that her companion had been halfheartedly nibbling at. Giving a wry smile he handed it over to her without a word. "What are you doing" she asked handing it right back to him "I didn't ask for this Sprite, you already put mouth on it anyway." "Alright, if you insist" he said licking it a few more times "We can get more tomorrow, what do you say?"

"Duck" was the only thing that came out of her mouth; on reflex he did so remembering the hundreds of times one of his partners had warned him to do the same. Just like in the past it served him well, a split second after he rolled backward onto the roof Skadi slashed through the air covering the previously warm summer air in a layer of sparkling frost. As Malice stood up she glanced back over the edge of the roof, Chris had dropped his ice cream when he had dodged her attack and it now was hurtling down to the sidewalk. Steamed at the waste of such a tasty treat she whipped her diviner about with one hand using the frost she had initially accumulated to summon a small hailstorm of icicles that embedded themselves about the floor. Eyes roving about she tried to see where her opponent had gone but she came up empty, they had apparently vanished into thin air. Several minutes passed as both of them waited breathlessly for something to happen, their only warning was a quick flash of sunset yellow. Grunting Malice blocked the blade of the weapon with her diviner but the attack had been so superhumanly fast she had no time to place herself in an appropriate stance. Overpowering her easily the yellow weapon slid out of her block and dashed past her aiming straight for Chris.

The man was hardly a sitting duck though, jumping up onto his feet he took several potshots at the shady figure dashing toward him but all of them were effortlessly blocked with sweeps of his glimmering weapon. With a grimace Malice boosted herself into the sir, at this speed there was no way she could keep up with such a speedy opponent on foot. As if to cement her predictions the weapon and its owner disappeared in a blur of air letting a few bullets to pierce the air where it had been. With the angel keeping a look out overhead Chris took the small lull to reload his gun, that speed was very similar to Wesker's, could the Tricell agent have found them? A quick whoosh of air was the only warning he got as the angel shot forward right at him smashing him in the torso with the shaft of her ax. With a grunt of surprise and pain Chris went tumbling hand over head while Malice locked weapons again with the mysterious opponent. This time however she had the upper hand, the momentum of her dive completely overpowered her opponent and with a yell she surged forward , wings whipping to give her an additional boost, sending her opponent off the roof.

Panting a bit she checked over the side of the roof to see if she could spy his crushed body down below. A masked face met hers as she peered over, he had grabbed the edge of the roof when he fell and with a grunt he flipped up onto the roof smashing her in the back with his knee. Blindly she grabbed for some sort of handhold, she managed to find one of the edge of the roof effectively reversing the positions they had been in before. Jerking her head upwards she finally got a good look at her otherwise hidden opponent. He was dressed in the most peculiar garb; it was purple attire that was comprised of a loose fitting shirt and pants with strange crimson symbols on them. He had brown hair with matching eyes which held a calculating look. The two most distinct traits about him was his red scarf that concealed the lower half of his face while waving dramatically in the weak breeze and his weapon, which had been the first thing that had caught their attention, was even more amazing now that it was poised above her head. It looked very similar in design to a diviner but Malice's innate ability to sense the divine told her that it held no supernatural power aside from its very interesting form.

"And you are" she asked annoyed that this mere Sprite had managed to keep up with her so far. "That is classified information" he told her "My orders are to return you to the government." "Like hell you are "Chris replied grabbing the man and tossing him over his shoulder to the other side of the roof. Letting go of the edge Malice grabbed the air and flew back up into the sky hovering a few feet above Chris who was dismayed to see the ninja land safely from the throw and rush them with his weapon arcing through the air. The B.S.A.A agent raised his gun in defense but before he could pull the trigger a massive blast of arctic air froze his limbs causing him to reflexively drop his weapon. She soared past him trading blows with the ninja while Chris sank to the ground shivering violently from the cold. "Just…hold…still…you little bastard" Malice screeched as the ninja managed to dodge about her swipes with unbelievable ease. ""Al l this wasted time can be saved if you merely allow me to apprehend you" the ninja remarked flipping over a large piece of ice Malice summoned. "Go to Utgard" she snarled gathering more and more frost and coating the roof with it hoping to restrict the ninja's movement.

Once the roof was frosted she smashed the hilt of her weapon down causing ice spikes to pop up all over. Undeterred by her attack the ninja began to slide about on the ice using the lack of friction to effortlessly draw close enough to swipe at her with his sword. With a "schwing" the blade reflected off her ax cleanly but the angel couldn't move fast enough to dodge the follow up kick to her middle that sent her tumbling into one of her own ice spikes. Casually the ninja reached down and grabbed her arm "This would have been easier if you had simply given up in the first place" he said emotionlessly. Malice attempted to bash his head in with Skadi but he stepped on her hand pressuring it enough to force her to drop her weapon. "Mission accomplished" he commented as he twisted her about ready to knock her unconscious with a chop to the back of her neck but a hand grabbed his raised one. "Think again, scarf boy." A nasty flow of electricity coursed through him, more than enough to cause a heart attack in a normal person, but rather than having his heart explode the ninja twisted out of 's grip and slashed his blade through the air.

On reflex threw her arm up to block the blow which proved to have a terrible idea. While her suit managed to stop the slash from doing anything worse than lightly cutting her skin the usually impervious threads of her tech suit were sliced apart leaving a patch of pink skin vulnerable to the night air. Even while she was stunned at the outcome of their clash 's mind refused to wander that far from the battle at hand. Sidestepping from left to right she dodged several more vertical swipes then began her own attempt at some sort of offense by stepping in to deliver a nasty one-two punch to his torso and head. She followed it up with a roundhouse to chest that sent him sliding back across the field of ice. "Who are you" asked using the small lull to activate her jet boots to melt the ice on the roof. "Ms. Crimson Viper, I have come on behalf of the government. My orders are to reacquire the angel. Be grateful my secondary directive is not to assassinate you." Rolling her eyes waved a hand dismissively "Hate to break this to you but the angel is going to stay with us. Why don't you run along to whatever manga you were rejected from before you get in over your head?"

The ninja moved first, ducking low and zigzagging forward, ready to turn the CIA agent into ribbons of jerky but was ready. With a jet blast she vaulted above him using gravity to launch into a feet first foot dive cloaked in flames slamming into him causing him to bounce against the ground. Grabbing the ninja off the ground she shocked him again before sending him flying with a kick to the back. The ninja landed unsteadily on his feet before regarding his opponent critically "The dossier was correct, you are most dangerous" he commented bringing his weapon up "If you won't hand over my objective then I have been authorized to kill you." "Good, then I won't have to pull punches" his opponent said getting into her stance "Try not to bore me." As he rushed her she shot one the lasers that had been charging in her glasses at him hoping to destroy his weapon but even the super-heated beam of light had no effect on the blade. Closing the gap the ninja faked a swipe before sliding across the ground sending onto her ass with a kick to her shin. Capitalizing on this the ninja tried to behead her with a flipping midair slash which forced her to sacrifice the suit on her other arm to block.

With both arms bare she leapt off the pavement using her jets to launch into a flurry of strikes that allowed her hover forward. The ninja blocked once again but had predicted this and by carefully controlling her jets she managed to position herself right above him. Within moments the flames would overcome his guard roasting him alive, or it would have if Malice hadn't chosen this particular moment to strike again. A quick flash of lightning was just enough of a warning for the CIA agent, her previous fight with the angel helping her remember what was coming, and she blasted out of there as a freak blizzard coated the area around them. Twirling her weapon triumphantly in the air Malice gave a victory cackle "You Sprites all the same, so much hot air, so little talent." Glaring at the angel, scowled "Watch it would you? I'm on your side." "Then get out of my way" Malice shouted back twirling her weapon "I'm not going hold your hand for you."

was about to retort but her eyes were drawn to the middle of the rapidly vanishing blizzard, the shimmering frost had begun to dispel revealing that the ninja was nowhere to be seen. "Impossible" the angel screeched "That was a clean hit, I know it!" "Be careful" the CIA agent called out "He could be anywhere-"Materializing behind her the ninja pressed a pressure point in her neck sending her down onto the ground unconscious. "These distractions are beginning to get ridiculous" he noted as his target charged him again. Her first blow was a vertical chop up he easily stepped around but it opened him up to her grab; she laid him low with a smash from her diviner before being stomped on. She tried to end this by executing him there and then but by placing his blade behind his head he managed to stop it from decapitating him. "Legion" the man called out and something hard smashed Malice in the back. Turning around she watched a metallic beast stalk forward, its robotic eyes gleaming menacingly.

"Why won't you just give up" she fumed as the ninja jumped back onto his feet "A coward who relies on numbers could never defeat me." "It is not cowardice but strategy" the ninja replied gesturing his beast onward "Two is stronger than one." "Then let me even up the odds, mate" Rocket Raccoon called out melting the beast with his space laser gun. Cocking his gun the Guardian of the Galaxy attempted to snipe the mysterious man but he disappeared entirely just before the lasers hit him. Phasing forward the ninja blew past Malice and aimed a low swipe at the rodent making him dance back, nearly fumbling his weapon from the speed of the reflex. Clicking the setting of the laser gun onto its stun setting Rocket Raccoon shot volley after volley at the man with the precision of a seasoned marksman but he might as well had been blind for all the good it did him. Without fail the ninja would either parry or dodge the bolts of concentrated photons which, unintentionally, created cover fire for his back preventing Malice from sneak attacking him. "Just hang a bloody tick on" Rocket Raccoon roared watching as yet another shot careened past where the ninja had stood a split second ago. Phasing back into the material world the man swung his weapon, an odd move considering that his furry opponent was several feet away from the edge of his blade, but the attack hit home carving a trail of blood red through the creature's middle. The Guardian of the Galaxy gave a muffled gasp of surprise before falling over backwards as he began to bleed out.

Annoyed at all this trouble he was going through the ninja didn't even face the angel as she swiped her weapon at his head, placing his weapon near the side of his head he parried her blow sending her rattling back. He continued to walk forward using small wrist movements to launch small slashes that had just enough force behind them to keep the blonde blocking as she staggered back from his barrage. Once they began to reach the end of the roof he launched one final attack that sent the weapon spinning out of her hand onto the street below. Before she could even register she had been disarmed he held the tip of his blade against her throat and stared down her one blue orb with his two brown, blank ones. Stepping closer he grabbed her shoulder and easily restrained her when she began to fight him "You have lost" he told her straining to lift his voice against her harpy like screeches of rage "If you will not submit to me willingly then I will be forced to-"Looking back to him it was clear where he had gone wrong, he had gotten sloppy after battling so many opponents. In retrospect it was obvious that her sudden screams of hysteria had not simply to prove she was raging at her loss and subsequent capture. Instead they were the perfect cover as the muscular man who had fallen to her friendly fire; the cock of his gun was not picked up by Hiryu's expert hearing and that was what cost him his bounty.

A searing pain impacted his chest, weakening his grip instantly allowing the angel to push him off the roof. For that second he was suspended in midair he looked into the chilling eyes of the angel, eyes filled with nothing more than contempt at the fact he drew breath. He fell into the shadows of the alley below unsure of his future, would this fall kill him or would it be the slug that had ripped through his chest cavity like a bulldozer? On instinct Malice tensed ready to dive after her lost weapon but Chris' grunt somehow turned her attention away from her ax and to the man who had saved her from yet another meeting with those odious Sprites. For a man who had just made a grade A shot Chris looked slightly better than death warmed over. He was shivering hard, the brief second he had managed to use to compose himself and shot the scarf bastard had faded returning the shakes to his limbs and robbing him of the ability to even perch himself on his knees like he had to make the shot.

Aware she had been the one to put him such a state Malice walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, it was freezing cold to the touch. "Are you alright" she asked trying her best to ignore the uncharacteristic guilt beginning to blossom in her gut. "Save…Rocket…Raccoon…" the man replied between chattering teeth. Obediently Malice waltzed over to the poor creature and activated Angel Awakening just long enough for the wounds he had sustained on his body to heal enough not to be life threatening. Once that was done she moved the trio back inside the walls of the apartment they shared, Rocket Raccoon was put in one room while took the second and Chris was placed in the kitchen. Using the kettle Malice heated up a batch of scalding hot water which she handed over to Chris to either drink or jumpstart his frozen nerves. Alternating between drinking glasses of hot water and running them over his stiff limbs for a half hour the B.S.A.A member finally managed to warm up enough to stop shivering like a mad man. Malice had exited the building as discreetly as she could to retrieve her weapon and when she got back she met with the angry gaze of Chris Redfield. "What the hell did you think you were doing" he asked her his voice as rough as sandpaper and twice as abrasive "You had no concern whatsoever for your comrades' safety, you harmed me and with your recklessness. "

Malice was taken a bit aback by the Sprite's anger but she dismissed it by sweeping a hand through her bangs all the same "It's not my fault you're weak. I warned you about getting in my way, correct? You should have hidden yourself away and let me deal that pesky little Sprite." "I don't care if we are weak; you should never attack your allies like that, ever. We're partners, all of us, and we have to trust each other." He explained in a low growl "Tomorrow you're going to apologize to Rocket Raccoon and for your behavior up there." She stared at him incredulously "I see no reason to apologize, it's weak and demeaning and unreasonable. I don't need your help with getting home." She should have stormed out of their lives forever but something was keeping her glued to the floor. Much to her irritation she found a small part of herself did agree with what Chris was saying but there was so much more to it than that, her personal streak of fierce independence coupled with her servitude to Master Hector was only the tip of the iceberg. She struggled with the words but couldn't get them out of her mouth so she stood there leering at the ground while Chris looked on oblivious to the train wreck in her soul. Taking her silence for rebellion the man stood up from the table "I'm going to bed, I'd advise you to think about what you did today. It's always better to have someone with your back than going at it alone, believe me."

He was wrong, so wrong in so many ways that it set Malice's world view ablaze but she pushed her personal beliefs aside for the moment. Lunging forward she grabbed Chris by his arm, her fingers digging into cold flesh, and she looked him in the eye. "Malice" she said resolutely "My name is Malice. Goodnight." With that she retreated into the second bedroom to catch some sleep on a spare cot. Even if her words had not been a technical apology they made Chris crack a small smile, maybe this group could make it work, somehow.


	13. Warm Bodies

Chapter 13: Warm Bodies

It had taken awhile but it seemed like Wesker could finally start to do something besides sitting around the villains' base of operations and rattling his brain trying to remember the right amount of ingredients necessary to create Uroboros. Whatever M.O.D.O.K had procured from Stark Tower absorbed all of the tin tyrant's attention to the point where they rarely saw him anymore aside from when he called meetings to discuss the encroachment of phase three of their plan. Two weeks after M.O.D.O.K's mission, the killing machine and Wesker felt confident they could continue their activities once again without fear of Doom finding out. "Here's the modified recipe" Wesker said handing the memory stick back to M.O.D.O.K "A few of the items there I remember concretely but the others with asterisks marking them may not be correct in a number of ways." They stood in the mad computer's science lab in the base amidst a number of tubes containing B. . "Hmmm, let's hope we have more success with this batch then" M.O.D.O.K commented, placing the memory stick in a compartment of his chair "By the way, I have a present for you" Whipping out a brightly colored box which he thrust into Wesker's hands "Happy two month anniversary"

The Tricell agent took off his glasses to glare balefully at the robot "What the hell is this?" M.O.D.O.K cackled "I believe you flesh things disprove of someone telling you what's inside a present, just open it and see." Nonplussed Wesker's carefully undid the wrapping so it fell off without a rip or wrinkle on it revealing a nondescript cardboard box. Undoing the unsealed lid he pulled out a small card which was plastered with flower print and on it was inscribed:

Look behind you, nimrod.

Pivoting behind him, ready to flashstep out of the way of some sort of backstab from M.O.D.O.K, he relaxed when he saw the B.O.W triad assembled in their tubes behind him. The first on he recognized instantly, it brought back some fairly unpleasant memories; a new Nemesis was lying suspended in mysterious blue liquid ready to hunt some S.T.A.R.S. The second one was a bit nostalgic, a Tyrant lay to the right of the Nemesis, and while not as persistent as the S.T.A.R.S terminating machine it made up for it with a highly unstable genetic code allowing for mutation on the fly. The last one was a bit surprising, it was small and easily dwarfed by its two older brothers but it's potential past both of them exponentially. "Is that a cyber Plagas" Wesker asked stepping up to the glass so he could observe the parasitic B.O.W better "I don't recall mentioning that strain to you." "Oh, it's already been created" M.O.D.O.K commented, a bit bitter he hadn't been the first to discover the mind controlling larva "It wasn't very hard to make in retrospect, I merely fortified a manmade Plagas with the G-Virus then stimulated it in the egg with alternating shots of blood and brain tissue before adding some techno virus I stole off a very unruly mutant."

It wasn't like it hadn't occurred to him before but Wesker couldn't help but rethink his decision to give M.O.D.O.K the recipe for the T and G virus as well as the biological make up of Las Plagas. Clearly it had sped up his total global saturation plan but now the killing machine had the capacity to turn on him and use the recipes however he saw fit. Wesker mentally resolved to take M.O.D.O.K's potential more seriously from now on while at the same time repressed a tingle of glee that zapped itself through his veins. If the computer could whip up a cyber Las Plagas from scratch then what other possible abominations could it craft that could exceed the years of research that Umbrella had slaved over? "Are they done" he asked turning back to his partner in crime who grinned widely "Naturally but as you know Las Plagas can only exist without a host for ten minutes at best before it dies of starvation, quite the voracious little gluttons. While I've managed to tweak the newest batches endurance up to fifteen minutes you'd best not put it in your pocket and forget about it." Nodding Wesker tapped the control panel in front of the tube that held the Nemesis, the fluid drained out and within a few seconds the profane creation opened its eyes to behold the world it had been born into. "S.T.A.R.S" it murmured, it's voice dulled by the glass, which it promptly shattered with a blow. Stepping out of its containment unit it stood before its creators and bowed in subservience. "I presume this one had also been given a dose of Virus X as well?" Wesker asked gesturing to a nearby wall where a boiler coat and rocket launcher was waiting. While the monster equipped itself M.O.D.O.K giggled "Of course and the result was even better this time, I imagine its potential had risen from 20% to 35%, a small but respectable difference than the last one you let get destroyed."

A frown appeared on Wesker's face, the memory of that beat down still managed to rankle him each time he thought about. "What do you think the odds are that Doom will notice if I go have some fun" he asked pushing his sunglasses higher up his nose. "Ohohohoho, I'd bet my micro-processors that poor old Dr. Doom wouldn't even notice if you reenacted Hamlet in his room with the Nemesis, he's so drawn into whatever I yanked from my mission. Too bad I have no idea what that machine was or else we might have some idea of what he's trying to do, hehehehehe." Rolling his eyes Wesker dismissed M.O.D.O.K's comments, he too was curious about the thing the killing machine had retrieved but didn't care about it. His plan was flawless and no amount of stolen tech would be able to stop him. On a whim he grabbed a small vial from one of the tables scattered about the lab and stuck it in a small outlet in the middle of the tube that held the evolved Las Plagas. Lightly pressing a button he activated the release which sucked the parasite as well as some of the life sustaining fluid it required into the vial and pocketed it. "Going to test it out" M.O.D.O.K asked gleefully "I'm guessing g that since you know of it you'll be able to use it properly then?" "I've had a lot of fun with this particular B.O.W before" the Tricell agent replied "I'll be gone all night, try to be productive in the mean time." M.O.D.O.K humphed in offense at the biting remark but before he could shout a comeback the leather clad blond was out the door followed by the Nemesis.

Outside in the hallway Wesker did nothing to try and conceal the Nemesis which was dutifully following behind him. They passed Dr. Doom's quarters nonchalantly unafraid that the good doctor would exit and find treachery going on behind his back. Oddly enough they did pass Magneto who had been roaming about the hallways with that grumpy little frown that was a constant on his facial features. "Odd" the elder remarked eyeing the Nemesis "I seem to recall our esteemed leader clarifying that you couldn't continue creating those sins against nature." "Are you going to do something about it" Wesker asked confident that if the metal master was intent in stopping his fun that he could be dealt with in the blink of an eye. Luckily it wouldn't come to blows "Make no mistake human, I am no lap dog of Doom's or an ally of yours" the mutant sneered before brushing past the pair. Rolling his eyes Wesker got on the freight elevator that would send them topside 'You'll get yours someday mutant' he thought spitefully as the elevator rose up. Once they were outside in the midnight air Wesker took to the rooftops with the Nemesis following him, his heavy frame smashing the concrete on the roof with each leap he took.

From prior knowledge of the biology of the parasite which created the Nemesis Wesker took the abomination to Central Park, the last place he had seen that loathsome Chris Redfield. The Nemesis was fully equipped to track down the S.T.A.R.S members thanks to the process by which it had been built. Each of its five senses had been honed in such a way that revolved around its duty to exterminate those poor unfortunate souls. Upon arrival at one of the edges of the Central Park the Tricell gent found a cadre of policemen wandering about the site, he recalled their being some type of lunatic on the loose who had beaten back one of the city's Avengers. Within minutes this small police force was dead without even a chance to request back up on their radio, this mysterious slaughter would make the six o'clock news that morning. Satisfied that all pests had been extinguished he summoned the Nemesis down from its perch allowing it to pick up the trail of Chris Redfield. Bending down on all fours it began to sniff the ground like a dog while Wesker leaned up against the tree waiting for the monster to find the scent. They crossed about the park unmolested by any other interlopers; apparently the media had done a good job at scaring off the populace. Wesker hadn't been a part of the Nemesis' creation so at times the zombie could surprise him at the actions it sometimes took. Case in point: at one point it seemed like Nemesis had gotten the trail, it began to hiss and groan like a predator while standing back up and hurrying off in a certain direction. Wesker had followed hot on its footsteps but before they managed to even get halfway across the park the creature had stopped and bent down again sniffing about the clearing.

At first Wesker assumed it was regaining the scent, perhaps Redfield had crossed through a puddle of water or some dumb shit like that, but after about ten minutes the monster sat on its haunches. Incredibly the thing seemed to be deliberating, Wesker couldn't be sure of course but he could find no explanation why the typically blood hungry beast was now contemplating where to go. Angrily he prodded it with the toe of his boot "This thing better not have broken" he stated, promising himself he would smash M.O.D.O.K to pieces if this pile of crap proved to be defective. "S.T.A.R.S" it murmured once before dashing off to the left at an amazing rate. The pair zigzagged through the city occasionally stopping to let the Nemesis pick up the scent but as they drew closer the monster became more and more confident of the direction in which it was headed and an unholy cacophony of grunts and roars began to emanate from its mouth. It led Wesker to an apartment complex on the outskirts of the heart of the city, a bit rundown for a place like New York. Using one hand to keep the Nemesis from charging in Wesker scoped out the premises as best he could. Even with his virus enhanced eyesight he couldn't be sure which one of the rooms held Redfield, it was well past midnight and most of the windows were dark with their occupants snoozing away unaware of his presence. He debated the merit of simply letting the Nemesis go ape shit on the entire building until Redfield wormed his way out of the rubble but there was that pesky little promise he made to Doom where he swore he would keep his activities secret until the proper phase of their plan.

'A little casual destruction won't bring me any unwanted attention' he thought with a shrug 'I am far too close to my prey to let them go.' With that thought he released his grip on the abomination and with an earth-shattering roar it leapt at the building's wall punching a hole through the cement and concrete materials like they were no more than glass. From his spot on the roof Wesker could hear the instant effect the monster had on the occupants, screams of all sorts lacerated the air along with wet thumps as their lives were reduced to assorted bloody smears on the floor courtesy of the Nemesis. He waited for a few minutes at best but for the soon to be god it just wasn't fast enough, he wanted to cut to the part where his creation crushed Redfield's head like a swallow's egg. Finally a series of gunshots caught his attention causing him to grin in anticipation, the Nemesis roared in pain but he fought through it. A body was tossed out the window and for a second Wesker thought it to be the corpse of Redfield. Disappearing from the rooftop he landed down below on the streets next to where the body had impacted the earth. Upon closer inspection Wesker's initial joy soured into annoyance, while this man was built like that steroid sucking Redfield he was a blond and wore a ludicrous looking mask.

Deciding that the possibility of Chris dyeing his hair blond in order to better emulate Wesker, after all who didn't want to pursue perfection, was slim to none he turned his attention back up to the perch he had been on before. He wanted a better look at the carnage going on within the apartment building but, luckily for him, the destruction was coming his way. In a fit of déjà vu the Nemesis fell down onto his face a few feet away from Wesker while a blond woman landed next to the unmoving abomination. This time around it wasn't that accursed angel who had halted his attempts at revenge; instead it was his favorite servant. "My, my, this is a surprise" he commented pushing his sunglasses farther up his nose "I wasn't expecting to see you around here my dear." Mentally he promised himself to hold off on killing Doom for a bit so he could subject him to the best torture he knew, how dare that Latverian half-wit forget to inform him Jill Valentinewas skulking around in this world. For her part Jill just eyed him for a tick with those virus imbued yellow eyes of hers, she had always been somewhat slow after he had implanted the parasite on her chest. "Jill…do you know this guy" the man whom the Nemesis had defenestrated stood up slowly "Is this that Redfield guy you were looking for?" Cruelly, Wesker smashed his foot into the calf of the injured man sending back onto the ground with a thump "Don't you dare talk about that damn Redfield in my presence. I am Wesker, this woman's master as well as the new god of this world." While finding Chris would have been fun locating Jill was a boon in and of itself, this was merely conjecture but in hindsight perhaps the reason the Nemesis had decided to hunt down Jill was because the beast remembered the hunt for her in Raccoon City. They had recycled tissue from both the Nemesis in that world as well as the one M.O.D.O.K had built for him in this world so it was possible some sort of genetic memory transfer had occurred between the three of them each time they were pseudo revived by Wesker.

"Jill, I have big plans for you." Wesker said as he began to think about which of his lairs he should stash his servant in, after all he wanted to hide this from Dr. Doom. "She ain't your servant, shithead" the man shouted as he struggled back to his feet. Angrily he stomped his foot onto the back of the man sending him face down onto the trash strewn alley way "How impertinent, is that any way to speak to a god. She is mine, for I created her." He pulled out his gun preparing to end the squirming insect once and for all but just as he was about to pull the trigger a bullet blew the weapon out of his fingers. Wesker stared balefully at Jill who stood there silently with the smoking gun in both of her hands. Sighing he rubbed his temples "I see, that bastard Redfield has been meddling with my work once again." Strolling forward towards his defective servant he pulled out the vial that held the evolved Las Plagas within its confines "This'll hurt, but it's for the best I assure you." With a whimper she shuffled away, her usually stoic eyes began to quiver as nasty memories began to force their way into the crevices of her battered brain. As Wesker drew near something grabbed his foot making him stumble and sending the vial tumbling from his grasp. With a grunt he swooped down to catch it before it hit the floor, as he began to stand back up a powerful straight from the masked man sent his head jerking hard to the right. "Do you insist on being a nuisance" Wesker growled as he straightened up pocketing the vial in his coat "Its men like you that are always thorns in my side."

The Nemesis rose up when Wesker snapped his fingers, its hideous visage visible in the orange glow of the street lights. "If one of my servants won't off you then the other will" Wesker commented as the great flesh beast passed its master and hauled the man into the air by the neck. Dangling helplessly all the stranger could spew were flecks of drool as the monster slowly began to squeeze his neck with increasing force; its master wanted it to be painful after all. Jill aroused from her stupor cocking her gun once more but with a flashstep Wesker was at her side forcing the barrel of the weapon up. "Emotional codependence is such a pain." He commented as he watched her struggle to free her weapon from his grip "Even the most hardened subjects can show some sort of bond to even the most superficial of things. Watch closely, me peche, as you see the fruit you bear when you choose to oppose my divine will." Absentmindedly he stroked her hair with his free hand noting that the blond dye was beginning to fade leaving streaks of unsightly brown in its wake. "We'll have to fix that once you're back under control, the superior race had no need for brunettes." He bent down and whispered into her ear "And after all you know I only like to fuck blonds."

"Why don't you give us red heads a try you little shit" a high squeaky voice called out from somewhere. Something smashed into his face from above then sprung off his godly face onto the Nemesis where it pounded the monster's back with a combination making it release his grip on the man it had been choking. Dodging the monster's grasping mitts the miniature man jumped up and heel dropped the beast three times in oddly synched succession. The Nemesis staggered away with a scream allowing the midget to help the assaulted man to his feet "Henshin a go go baby!" Pissed Wesker darted forward to deal with this newest distraction but Jill intercepted him forcing him onto the ground where she grabbed his left leg and tried to break it with a twist. "Both of you have to run away quickly" she shouted as she wrestled with her former master, her voice carrying a tone Wesker hadn't heard since before he subjected her to the mind controlling Las Plagas. Kicking away his defective servant Wesker stood up and motioned to the girl "Deal with her, I'll handle these two." Rushing low the Nemesis grabbed Jill by her waist and tossed her up into the night air before bounding after her. Tumbling through the air Jill managed to right herself just in time to land safely in the street several blocks away from where her allies were facing down Wesker. Before she could move to join them the Nemesis impacted the earth right in front of her "S.T.A.R.S" it murmured with a gurgle as it readied it's rocket launcher.

With a keening sound it launched a missile forward right at the blond which, in the past, would have dictated her ducking or side stepping in some frenetic manner in order to get away from the beast an its arsenal. But this wasn't the old Jill, this one had been upgraded a while ago, and instead of running the new Jill jumped forward at the last second letting the heel of her stilettos tap the volatile projectile lightly. The ensuing blast launched her higher into the air allowing her to spin horizontally like a diver as she descended. With a huge amount of force she scissor kicked the Nemesis in the head digging one of her heels deeply into its cranium to steady her as she jerkily bent backwards and unloaded her entire clip into the mutant's face. It howled with anger as the searing hot bullets tore into its face but before it could grab the former slave, she pushed her heel out of the monster's head and landed on her hands allowing her to back flip several feet away from her opponent.

Straightening up she opened the chamber of her gun releasing the spent shells inside while restocking with new ones. As she felt around her skin tight suit for a box of bullets she noted she only had a select few left, perhaps no more than a dozen or so before her weapon became obsolete. As she reloaded she glanced at the monster, it was still squirming in pain but something in the back of her mind told her that this was one opponent that couldn't go down without a fight. Unfortunately for Jill that voice turned out to be true, once it ripped its hands away from its godforsaken face Jill noted robotically that despite her assault the beast had not been as affected by it as she had hoped. It's already melted skin seemed to re-patch itself quickly and efficiently making it uglier but effectively stopping whatever ichors the thing had been spouting from its wounds. Roaring, it lunged forward sending out a purple tentacle to try and ensnare Jill like it had done many times in the past. She blocked it, allowing it to lash weakly against her upraised arm before stepping closer. Lowering its bulk the creature rushed forward in a shoulder tackle that Jill hopped over giving her access to its unguarded back.

Latching on with one hand she brought the gun to the back of its head before shooting three of her precious bullets into its brain which didn't even phase it. It stopped standstill before trembling with a screech, several more tentacles wiggled out of its back ensnaring the surprised woman. Like a series of arms the tentacles maneuvered her entire form about the back into the waiting arms of the Nemesis who grinned as it watched her squirm. Kicking the gun out of her grip it proceeded to use two tentacles on its back to keep her aloft in the air while it hammered her torso and face with a series of haymakers. Screaming under its administrations Jill waited for his attack to cease for a split second before flipping backwards allowing one of her heels to puncture its one good eye. The abomination roared angrily returning its tentacles to its body allowing the woman to go free as it began to redirect the fluids in its virus spawned body to make it a new eye.

While the zombie recovered Jill looked about the area she was in seeing if she couldn't find some sort of element that would allow her to overcome the monster. Clearly her puny handgun was not going to be powerful enough for her to simply blast it away requiring either more firepower or a different strategy. Noting a set of fire stairs attached to the sides of the building Jill broke to her left heading for the confined space with the Nemesis hot on her heels trying to line up a second shot with its rocket launcher. Just as it was about to send her to kingdom come Jill reached to first set of stairs and began to climb them leaving the Nemesis to reacquire his target down below. Hastily lining up the shot it pulled the trigger once again hoping to end Jill's gymnastic antics with a missile to the face. Twisting her body about Jill crossed under one of the flights of stairs fluidly before dropping down onto a lower set which kept her just out of the blast radius. Once the tremors from the explosion ceased she continued to vault her way up and down the fire ladders with all the grace of a rhythmic gymnast. She slid her way underneath one set of stairs before gripping the steel holes the floor was made up of and crawling her way to the next portion where she jumped off and landed in a tuck and roll directly over the Nemesis. With two powerful kicks she severed the chain holding that flight of stairs up sending the entire structure as well as herself onto the beast's unguarded head. It fell to its knees allowing Jill to assault its unprotected cranium with a barrage of stiletto heel kicks. With one last smash she sent it to the floor where she stepped over to it and dug her heel deep into its skull. Fighting for balance she twisted her shoe turning its brains to mush which stopped any muscle tension. Satisfied she had sent it back to the hell from which it had spawned she began to climb back up the fire ladders hoping to make it back to Hawkeye and Viewtiful Joe fast enough before Wesker could finish them.

A low moan triggered a memory in her head:

_Panting hard Jill waited for a second to make sure the thing was dead, the past five times she had done this it always managed to stand back onto its feet within minutes of being put down. Hastily she tiptoed forward and yanked the pouch from its belt hoping that it, like the others she had taken from it's not quite so dead corpse, would prove to hold some invaluable item that would help her in her escape from the infested Raccoon City. Her suspicions were proven correct, inside were a bundle of First Aid Sprays which had proven to be a scarcity within this hell town. Pocketing them in her pouch she turned to flee and not six steps had been taken when a guttural growl warned her that despite all the lead she had pumped into it, the Nemesis was resurrecting itself once again. "Quit following me" she yelled back to its prone corpse as she began to weave in and out of the alleys of Raccoon City, once again trying to put as much distance between herself and the monster as she could. It never seemed to matter though, no matter how fast she ran the thing would find her again, somehow._

Hastening her speed Jill clambered up the rest of the stairs, raced across the building, then parkoured her way down onto the street below. Not to be left behind, the Nemesis used two powerful jumps to vault itself onto the building then to the street below right in front of Jill. Ignoring its rocket launcher for now the zombie chose to stick with its tentacles which wormed out of its body in spades giving him a passing resemblance to a sea urchin. Hunkering down on all fours the monster released an assault on its fellow experiment but instead of merely flailing them about like before it lashed them with well synchronized strokes. The attack was so well coordinated that poor Jill Valentine was helpless to defend against it; even with her incredible speed there were too many tentacles to track. In seconds the former S.T.A.R.S member was lifted into the air and smashed into the asphalt street multiple times. Groaning in pain the blond valiantly tried to aim her gun in such a way as to severe the abnormal phalanges but they had her wrapped up so tight she couldn't even move her wrist. Hungrily it moved forward, its hand reaching out to snap her neck and complete the mission its original had failed so many years ago. "S.T.A.R.S" it murmured happily as its hand began to squeeze her throat allowing her to only get out a few meager gurgles as she put all her energy into one last desperate escape.

While this was going on Player One and Player Two were observing it all within their indefinable room. "Seems like I finally get to remove one of your precious pawns off the board" Player One remarked as he reached down to grasp the black pawn that occupied the same space as his white pawn but his attempt was thwarted. With admirable reflexes Player Two smacked his fingers making him release the pawn "The battle has not been won yet, she is still in play" which only made Player One roll his eyes in response "You're such a hardass, look at the life bars. It's clear to me that there's no way to reverse this unless you're going to pull something out of your ass." "As a matter of fact, I am" Player Two replied curtly before handing over the rule book pointing to a specific section. "Article 25, section 4, line seventeen states that a player may special summon a pawn immediately if they so choose." Glaring at the rule book Player One acknowledged his opponent's argument "But you have to sacrifice quadruple the points you would have normally used to summon. Is one pawn really worth 36 points, that's a serious investment you know?" Ignoring the logic Player One presented, Player Two summoned an opulent computer screen in mid air where he promptly scrolled through the menus till he found the command he deposited the appropriate points necessary to break the turn order temporarily. Once the game deemed this as an appropriate action Player Two stuck a hand through the cosmic portal till he drew forth a new pawn. Placing it between his index finger and thumb he flicked it with his middle finger, the pawn rocketed through the air smashing into the white pawn that was assaulting his black one. With incredible precision the new pawn forced the white pawn back a space allowing it to inhabit the same square as its beleaguered ally.

"Odd" Player One commented rubbing his chin as he gazed at his opponent in an analytical fashion "I never would have suspected you do something so admirable, and so stupid. I was under the impression that you didn't care about these little game pieces we've been fooling around with. After all, you can't afford to get attached, especially with what's at stake here." Giving him a pointed look Player Two shook off his comment "Do not mistake this action for compassion. I understand what I will lose if I let you win and the collateral I have given is far too valuable for me to simply give up because these poor souls are suffering. Why don't you stop this pointless observation and focus on the game at hand, you might be surprised how one pawn turns the favor of a battle." 'Or perhaps a whole game' Player One thought smugly as he sat back in his seat. The chips had continued to fall nicely in his favor and so far not a single fuck up had materialized that could jeopardize his plans for the future. Let the little pawn get away, after all no one could escape the destruction of what was to come.

Just as Jill was about to lose consciousness due to asphyxiation something caused the Nemesis to reel back in great pain. There was the whoosh sound that accompanied the vacuum of air before something really hot washed over Jill, not bad enough to burn but easily in the uncomfortable range. Luckily for her, whatever had passed by her had struck the Nemesis dead on, making scream as it lost control of its body for a second. For a brief moment the tentacles involuntary retracted in order to shield the host body from the damaging effects of whatever had attacked it so brazenly, sending Jill down to take a mini dirt nap on the street below. Her inaction was a brief one, something scooped her up the minute the tentacles had retracted fully and flew off into the night sky. Trying her best to refill her lungs with the air it so desperately needed Jill's efforts were stone walled by something hot and moist attaching itself into her mouth. 'A kiss' she wondered vaguely remembering how one worked 'Can't…breath.' With the precious few drops of stamina left in her she pushed away from her mouth molester filling her lungs with the sweet night air. "Aha, so sleeping sexy finally awakens, huh" a strange male voice commented "Unless milady wishes for me to head down south for something a little more titillating?" Once her head stopped spinning Jill opened her eyes to see who her mysterious, and lustful, savior was. The first thing she noted was the ridiculous helmet he wore a top his head, it looked like someone was trying to craft a futuristic space shogun helm using tacky gold foil. Aside from that the helmet covered his eyes with some sort of built in sunglasses preventing her from taking notice of anything particular about his facial features.

"I know you're speechless from how incredibly hot I am" he stated winking at her "But would you mind filling me in on the big bad flash sack who was about to go XXX Japan tentacles all over your very fine ass?" It took her awhile to process which words she understood, this man seemed to spew a lot of lingo that garbled what he was trying to ask her. "That was the Nemesis" she replied before realizing the man was not merely standing a few feet away from the Nemesis, he was actually hovering in the air with the aid of some foot rockets. Below them was a blazing pile that had completely consumed the abomination, he had saved her from becoming its victim. Unabashed he began to slid the front zipper of her suit down allowing him a look at her sweaty, heaving boobs. "I request that you stop doing that" she reprimanded him monotonously zipping her clothes back on but the weird man took no offense to her actions. "I can take a hint sugar tits, you want to at least get to know me a bit better before I introduce you to the most mind blowing night of your life." He grinned at her in a debonair fashion "I'm Nova, leader of the Nova Corps and the best damn super hero in the galaxy." "I am Jill Valentine and I would like to land, I must return to my friends before they-" Nova placed a gloved hand over her mouth to stop her "Ain't no thang sweet bottom, I'll take you to the moon and back if that's what you want. But this ride ain't free, no tickets needed to ride the Nova, all it takes is a little tit for tat."

He flipped over so he lay on his back in mid air with Jill straddling his waist with her legs dangling aimlessly. Before she could question exactly what tit for tat implied and what country used it as currency a small glint caught her eye making her disembark him as quickly as she could. "Wait, baby what's the hold…" something sleek and black smashed into the black and gold hero before exploding in a mass of blazing doom. While Nova had been gunning for some nooky the Nemesis had pulled through the clutches of imminent death once again with nothing to show for it save clothing damage to the top half of its coat along with some superficial third degree burns. Unfortunately for the zombie it was not the only one who had invested in surviving death by fire explosion, Nova had cloaked himself in a high powered flame sphere which had stopped the shrapnel from entering his body, he absorbed the intense heat from the blast leaving only the blast of the weapon which sent him hurtling into the street leaving a large trail of upturned asphalt in his wake. Standing up he glared at the monster "Cockblocker" he accused as he tossed several more fireballs at the offensive flesh sack. Blocking each of them with one arm thrown up to its face the Nemesis charged the hero's position. When he drew close enough he sent one tentacle out to grip the hero's throwing arm and force it aside allowing a small volley of flaming projectiles to drop harmlessly to the ground. A second tentacle began to brow beat the hero stopping him from simply frying the offensive organs off with his hands. Racing up to his side Jill smashed a kick into the monster's knee making it fumble forward allowing her to unload two bullets into its brain from her kneeling position. The tentacles slackened allowing Nova to move once again "Stand back babe" he yelled as he began to craft a giant flaming sphere in his hands.

Hastily scrambling back several yards Jill took cover behind the corner of the street, even that wasn't enough to stave off the ridiculous amount of heat Nova tossed at the zombie giant in the form of a human sized flame ball. Instead of merely impacting the giant an exploding like fire balls are apt to do, this one went for style by launching into a shrieking fire pillar when it hit the Nemesis. Satisfied that the monster had been put down Nova wheeled around the bend, plucked Jill up from her cover, and placed her back on his hips like he had before the Nemesis had so rudely interrupted their titty negotiations. "Alright so, tit for tat" he said with a huge grin plastering his face "Are you in or are you in?" "I cannot understand what is coming out of your mouth, so I will be forced to commandeer you in order to expedite my friends' safety." She felt him shiver beneath her loins "Kinky" he commented unable to fully grasp what she was actually telling him. Instead of a bitching sexual position Nova took an elbow to the face stunning him long enough for Jill to flip him over onto his back. Straddling him like a horse she grabbed a hold of the horns on his helmet and smashed the heel of her stiletto into his side. With a cry he shot forward involuntarily and almost hit a wall of a nearby building if it hadn't been for Jill tugging his helmet up. The hero just managed to clear the rooftop and with some practice Jill found what sort of jerk to his horns would allow her to maneuver left, right, up and down as well as perform a barrel roll. Hastened by the amount of time that had passed dealing with the Nemesis Jill and Nova rocketed back to help Viewtiful Joe and Hawkeye.

While Jill's battle hadn't exactly been piece of cake it was miles better than the beat down the duo were getting from the hands of Wesker. Without his bow Hawkeye was forced to rely on hand to hand combat, not difficult for him but not his strongest suit, which placed him at a disadvantage against the virus empowered Wesker. Like a game of sadistic cat and mouse the black clad villain continued to side step out of the hero's blows answering back with light taps of his own. Viewtiful Joe was more successful at landing blows, switching between VFX Slow and Fast to keep pace with the villain. Unfortunately while Joe was able to hit him his blows didn't have enough power to put Wesker down and soon the constant swapping between VFX was beginning to fatigue him. Panting hard, Joe dodged a gun shot back stepping to where Hawkeye was kneeling on the ground trying to regain his breath after a nasty kick to the abdomen. "Got any plans, bro" Viewtiful Joe asked watching cautiously as Wesker reloaded his weapon "Hope your manly ego doesn't mind a swift retreat." "Even if my balls were small enough to make that sound reasonable I highly doubt we can beat a guy who breaks the sound barrier in a foot race."

As if to cement this observation Wesker disappeared once again without a sound only to materialize behind the duo, With a kick he punted Viewtiful Joe down the alley making sure the only opposition was dealt with before turning to deal with the weaker of the two. Pivoting on a foot Hawkeye tried to punch the guy with a spectacular straight but Wesker blocked it effortlessly. Staggering back a few feet the hero's mind raced to try and find something, anything, that could stop this guy but before he could blink the blond grabbed him and lifted him up into the air by his neck. "This is the extent?" All that answered him was the weakening grunt of a man fighting to stay alive which was all the answer he needed. Before he could break the man's neck like a swallow's egg the whine of what sounded like a jet engine pierced the air. "What the hell" was all he got out before something gold and flame like smashed him in the side. Hawkeye's limp body was caught by Jill before he could hit the ground and she quickly spirited him away to far end of the alley. "Is he ok" Joe asked concerned at the battered state of his bro. "It hasn't helped the bruises he sustained a few days ago but he's breathing and nothing has been broken." Jill replied before propping Hawkeye on the alley's wall "Wesker will be difficult to subdue, it will require all our efforts to incapacitate him. Are you capable of aiding us further?"

The crimson clad hero nodded "Yeah babe, I think I have some more VFX meter left but it ain't going to last long, ya dig? We got finish this in a few blows." "Affirmative" she replied before glancing back down the alley "I believe I have managed to recruit an ally. Hopefully he has not been inflicted with a concussion." If on cue, Nova rose from the trash heap that had he had landed in after his erratic flight, his helmet had a huge dent in it that had probably stopped him from being knocked out cold. "Ow, shit" he screamed staggering around like a drunk "What the hell was that?" Before anyone could answer a black boot smashed into his side sending him tumbling towards Jill and Joe. "If there is one thing I despise-" Wesker said getting up out of the trash he had been slammed into "-it's when pesky bugs interrupt me at inopportune times." Helping Nova stand up Jill pulled him close to her "I am sorry about hijacking you but I request your aid. Wesker is far too powerful for me and Viewtiful Joe to handle. With your strength we may have a chance." "Baby, ya don't to fret anymore" Nova assured giving her boobs a small squeeze "The most powerful super hero is at your disposal but I'll be booking you overtime for this, if you catch my drift."

With a battle cry the space hero blasted forward flanked by Jill and Joe while Wesker disappeared again. Predicting his angle of attack Jill jumped forward in a surprising bound landing on Nova's back before vaulting forward catching Wesker in mid kick. Grabbing his calf she threw him down onto the ground where Nova began to lay into him with assaulted fire powered punches. "Midget guy" he shouted as he landed a particularly explosive punch that rocketed Wesker's body into the air. "It's Viewtiful Joe, bro. Get it tight, get it right" he shouted back but despite his argument he read into the space hero's plan perfectly. Grunting the Movieland hero activated VFX Slow which turned Wesker's ascension into the slo-mo version giving Jill and Nova an opening. The blond moved first, flipping forward she kneed the Tricells agent's back while Nova came from below with an uppercut to the breadbasket. Standing up onto his back Jill unloaded the rest of her clip into his back watching as small flecks of blood slowly ascend into the air. Meanwhile Nova had landed back on the ground but quickly rocketed back up grabbing Jill along the way. "Heads up" he shouted tossing Jill at the apex of his flight. She landed on Wesker's back digging her heels in as far she could before Nova swooped by to pluck her out. VFX Slow finally wore off releasing the blond from its grasp and letting him plop onto the ground in a bloody heap. "Booyah, talk about all bite and no bark" Nova shouted raising his fist "Victory kiss, babe!"

Viewtiful Joe watched aghast as the space hero effortlessly swept in for a kiss which stuck for a second before Jill pushed him off. "It's not over" she stated glaring down at the spot where the trench coat wearing man had fallen. He stood up, the brief flash of a syringe clueing Jill into his serum injection, and before their eyes his grievous wounds patched themselves up. "Aw shit, crappy healing factor" Nova groaned before enflaming his fists again "Aw well, I'm up for seconds." Before anyone could move a giant beehive barrier materialized between the two of them. "There you are pal" a voice called out from above "Hate to spoil your fun but we've got a meeting we need to attend to." "Tell him to go to hell, these worms have exceeded my patience and I will squash them beneath my boot while taking back what's mine." He replied glaring at Jill with his red virus eyes "I'm going to finish this." "That's what I thought you'd say" a menacing mess of machine and man replied as it floated into the heroes view. "M.O.D.O.K" Nova shouted crossing his arms "I thought I smelled an abnormal amount of artificial nerd on this planet" "Can it, can-head" the computer snapped back "I don't have time to play fire extinguisher with you. I've got a meeting I need to attend and the price for being late is being disintegrated." Pressing a button on his chair he grabbed Wesker in a tractor beam which lifted him into a giant violet bubble that contained an unconscious Nemesis as well as someone else.

"Oh no you don't" the space hero said blasting off after them but M.O.D.O.K merely giggled "Suck on this, Sam." Firing a psionic blast from his diadem the killing machine guffawed as the Nova clutched his head in pain. "Man wasn't meant to fly" was his finishing repartee as he blasted off with his giant wonderball filled with villains. Nova's rocket began to sputter and die as he experienced a bout of extreme vertigo "Aw shit" was all that came out of his mouth as he lost consciousness. Racing over piles of garbage Jill managed to catch him just in time and, after a quick check of his vitals to be assured that M.O.D.O.K's attack hadn't been lethal, she dragged his body back to where Joe was waiting.

"We taking him with us" Joe asked disdainfully, he didn't particularly hate Nova but the fact that the hero was clearly gunning for Jill with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop didn't endear him to the Movieland hero either. "Wesker knew what that M.O.D.O.K thing was, they looked like allies" Jill explained to him "Nova knew M.O.D.O.K so it's possible that he might know of a way to get back to the worlds where we belong." Joe nodded his head in agreement "Rad, so we're taking him back to the apartment then?" Jill glanced at Hawkeye who was still unconscious "It will be difficult to carry these two back but we must tend to their wounds." She looked up at the floor where their domicile was located, they had been lucky that the Nemesis had aimed too low in his attack; their floor had been untouched by his assault. Helping Jill shoulder her load as best he could Viewtiful Joe began to think about how he was going to tell Hawkeye about Nova? Nonetheless, things were going to get very interesting around here.

While the heroes retreated to lick their sizable wounds Wesker was still raging at M.O.D.O.K's untimely intrusion. "I had them on the ropes and then you had to interfere" the Tricell agent fumed "Should you attempt that again our partnership will be over and I shall kill you." M.O.D.O.K rolled his eyes "The thanks I get for saving your bacon, don't blame me for spoiling your fun thank your incredibly shitty luck. While you were out playing in the garbage with those pipsqueaks guess who finally emerged for his room and called for an emergency meeting?" Realizing the scope of what happened as well as the possibility of being terminated Wesker switched the safety on his handgun off "How bad is it?" "Cool your jets, Doom's mad but I managed to cover for you. Told him you were taking a lovely stroll topside and he sent me to fetch you. He's in a good mood so was more than willing to overlook this transgression." "How in the world do you know that guy's in a good mood, he's wearing a fucking metal mask over his face?" M.O.D.O.K waved his hand dismissively "You just have to know the guy like I do. When he's really happy everything makes him break into evil overlord laughter, it's great for internet videos."

While it sounded like M.O.D.O.K was lying, when Wesker got back to the base he found out that it was surprisingly true. A constant chuckle erupted from the tin tyrant's mouth at a near constant rate which sounded like a combination of a blender slicing a cheese grater along with two pennies being rubbed together. The pair seated themselves at the table before being accosted with a snappish Super Skrull "Where the hell were you twerps?" "Cruising for babes, where else?" M.O.D.O.K shot back "Keep you cabin fever blues to yourself." This only made the alien explode in a fiery rage that consumed his figure "Don't mess with me you virus laden machine. If the Fantastic Four don't arrive soon I'm going to show you why the galaxy fears me." "Calm yourselves, while I would typically never tolerate such banter within my domain I am feeling magnanimous today so I shall let you off with a warning." Their esteemed leader told them, slamming a fist down on the table "Along with my tolerance I shall gift you with another blessing." 'Joy' Wesker thought dryly as he watched Doom plop a small blue cube down onto the counter 'A Rubik Cube, how lovely.' Magneto shared his look of sudden disinterest in the gift while M.O.D.O.K and Super Skrull gasped at the Earthling object in front of them. "By the stars" Super Skrull exclaimed getting up so fast that he knocked over his chair "Is that what I think it is?" "Quite excellent Doom, quite excellent" M.O.D.O.K breathed trying his best not to drool coolant all over the table "This ups the ante by an exponential amount, no?"

"What is it" Wesker asked, annoyed that a god such as he was feeling out of the loop. Apparently this was no mere Rubik cube. "Yes my friends, this is the key to our victory" Doom crowed lifting the cube up while that it glowed brightly "Power so dearly sought that the gods themselves were burned by the glory this light shines outward." "Radiant cosmic power" M.O.D.O.K and Super Skrull said at the same time which prompted a flat "what" from Magneto and Wesker. "This is radiant cosmic energy, an extremely rare form of energy that is unbelievably difficult to gather and has limited potential."Doom explained letting a small portion of the energy flow through his body "Capable of damn near anything from creation to alteration to destruction. With this radiant cosmic energy we will rule the world." Reaching into a pouch attached to his belt he withdrew four more of the cubes "Phase three starts before the week is out, I suggest that you get used to this as quickly as possible. Drink in too much at once and death will be the least of your worries."

Three of the villains departed as they examined their cubes with varying levels of awe M.O.D.O.K saddled to Doom with a knowing look "I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that whatever I stole from Stark was what allowed you abstract this" He was lying through his teeth of course, he had the original in his hidden lab and would soon be implementing his own plan to stock extra radiant cosmic energy. "On one hand why did you steal this from Stark? You're better than he is with this kind of stuff" "Flattery will get you nowhere" Doom reprimanded him "Stark had access to material I could not obtain myself. No doubt my take on the machine you stole would have been vastly superior." "Of course, of course" the killing machine demurred "One last little food for thought, you do realize that if the World Eater notices this little…siphoning I doubt he'll take it well." Dr. Doom harrumphed "Does the ocean notice if you drink from its briny depths with a straw. This is the smallest drop we could possibly take and there will be buckets more where this came from and Galactus will be none the wiser." Nodding M.O.D.O.K floated away, his normally gleeful face had fallen into a rare look of deadly seriousness "I wonder, fool, if you believe for one moment you can wean yourself off of this as easily as you sup from it. Once a mortal tastes the mana of heaven it is difficult to stop. Galactus is infamously jealous of his power, even the radiant light that shines from his body is his to claim exclusively. Even the smallest of bug bites will draw the giant's attention."

The smile returned on his face and he jettisoned over to Wesker's room, the blond was sitting with his feet up on his desk. Tossing the cube up and down in the air he looked at his partner with a piercing look from his red virus eyes "You brought me back from reclaiming my favorite servant so Doom could sell us some sort of sci-fi bullshit?" "Oh ye of little faith, I thought you were angling to be god? With that radiant energy in your hands you actually have a claim to the title." Ripping his gaze away from M.O.D.O.K Wesker looked at the object he was flinging up and down "I am a god" he stated "and I refuse to believe for a second some kind of energy could possibly be better than the virus that flows in my veins." The machine rolled its eyes "Silly organic being, why don't you take a sip and find out? I promise that a power hungry man like you will be able to appreciate the omnipotence that comes from but a single taste. Besides, unlike red wine or white wine, you can have it with any sort of meat." Cynical but mildly curious Wesker stopped his game of one handed catch with the cube and raised it into the air expecting the height to activate the energy like lightning striking a rod. "For the love of stars, that's not how you do it" M.O.D.O.K said before floating over to the blond "Hold on to your ass, this is going to be fun."

Reaching out with a mechanical arm he prodded the cube which exploded into a light show which blinded the both of them. Leaning back into his chair Wesker stared off into space while his eyes continued to widen and dilate at a speedy rate. It reminded him of the first time he implanted the Progenitor virus into his veins to give him his powers; this would have been after he had been "killed" by the tyrant in the laboratory in the Arklay Mountains. Feeling his DNA being improved upon to an impossible degree had always managed to stick in the back of his mind like a goal. It was like the first time you got high, you were always trying to regain that first experience that could never be matched. Using the power cosmic was like smoking something much more potent since it went above and beyond anything Wesker had ever felt before. Standing up, he lifted his hand in front of his face, it was glowing a pulsating blue. On whim he grabbed a nearby knife off one of the tables, primarily used for hacking open virus specimens with unusual mutations, and sliced the appendage off with one clean blow. The former hand had not even hit the floor before a new one had taken its place, identical to the first and it matched the severed one in strength.

"I don't usually say this but I was wrong and you were right" Wesker admitted as he flexed his new hand "This will assure my dominance of the new world order once we recreate Uroboros." "I'm glad you like it but there's also a multitude of ways to use radiant cosmic power than simply absorbing it" M.O.D.O.K said gesturing to the few B.O.W experiments Wesker had been conducting in his free time "All you need is a little creativity and you'll be blown away by the results of a little radiation." Plucking the cube from Wesker's hand M.O.D.O.K made sure the thing was off before floating over to a glass cage that held one of Wesker's favorite B. , a licker. Tapping the glass to get the grotesque creatures attention M.O.D.O.K attached in the cube to the cage and turned it on flooding the room in a weak blue light. The licker, being blind, didn't react at first more interested in the potential food that had alerted its presence to the B.O.W but after a few brief seconds it began to hiss and squirm like if it was on fire. The skin began to melt around its frame while the brain that took up 90% of its head retracted back into the body. For a brief second the beast was reduced to little more than a screaming pile of gelatinous flesh before new features began to emerge. An equine head surfaced from the mass, its mane was constructed of squirming parasites that lashed about in a frenzy while the eyes looked about world taking in the sight, the creature had lost when it had mutated into the higher tier zombie. It had the body of a man that lacked any sexual genitalia, the flesh was grey and saggy with the only other equine feature being a single foot, the left one to be precise, having rebelled against the direction of the rest of the body and taken the form of a horses leg complete with a cloven hoof for a foot.

"Fascinating" Wesker commented as he watched the new creation stumble about in the throes of rebirth "This has endless potential if it used properly. Think of the new line of tyrants we could reshape once they absorb a fragment of this power." "Pity we already grew a new Nemesis" M.O.D.O.K stated frowning "Had I known we were to gain such power I would have delayed the parasites' maturity until we imbued it with radiation. But science marches on." He swiveled in his chair to look at Wesker "So I have some good news, the Nemesis managed to survive it's meeting with your slave and that pitiful Nova. It's undergoing some minor recovery at my lab, the majority of the damage it sustained it had be reversed thanks to its healing factor. It should be ready by the time we start phase three. There's also, this" With a flourish he pressed a button which activated a tube in his lab, a transport system helped jettison the contents of the tube underneath the base into Wesker's room. Standing in front of it the blond eyed the thing critically; it was a human in an outlandish outfit made of purple and crimson with a ridiculously big scarf hiding the man's lower face.

Tapping a few keys on a nearby console Wesker brought up the occupant's vitals, they were flat "I fail to see how the corpse of some hero with bad fashion taste could capture my interest." "I know you want your dear Jill back but at this moment we need a temporary replacement and if the rumors I've intercepted are true this man would make a fine replacement" M.O.D.O.K explained rubbing the cube with his hand "This man is known as Strider Ryu, he hails from an elite government agency in Japan, he is capable of taking on entire platoons of soldiers and winning plus he's like us, having been drawn into this little conundrum by the powers that be. "Was" Wesker replied tsking at M.O.D.O.K's use of the present term "This man is dead, and while I would love to see him within the ranks of my army, both parasite and virus, ironically enough, need live bodies to infect."

"Do you still have that cyber Las Plagas I gave you" the killing machine asked "I want to get to the "show" part of show and tell" Idly Wesker reached into his back pocket and retrieved the vial containing the parasite, it had cracked during the battle with Jill leaking all of the life sustaining fluid its occupant had required leaving the cyber parasite dead. Unperturbed by this turn of events M.O.D.O.K tapped the mind controlling animal with the cube that sent a small spark of power into its decaying corpse. Immediately it began to flail about looking to latch on to a warm body which the killing machine obliged by resurrecting the ninja as well then placing the cyber Las Plagas onto his chest. The creature punctured the skin with its tentacles digging deeply into the veins around the heart which grew until they found the frontal lobe which was hijacked in the blink of an eye. Despite having just been returned from the clutches of death, Strider groaned as he tried to fight the creature's influence. "I trust you can take it from here" M.O.D.O.K asked as he floated out the door back to his apartment "Try not to have too much fun with that radiant cosmic energy now."


	14. The Huntress and her Prey

Chapter 14: The Huntress and her Prey

Morrigan Aensland had experienced many odd phenomena in her life. She was the reigning queen of the Makai, a demon realm found in a separate dimension with connections to many different worlds. Amid the mass who lived and fought within its borders werewerewolfs, merman, catgirls, vampires, bee monsters, and countless other races who battled each other for dominance day in and day out. She had been to the Majigen, a world of insanity that birthed gods; she had been on the doom train that had heralded the souls of the damned to hell. She had fought against little girls who wore red, loved money, and were the cruelest beings Morrigan had ever known. Still, even after all she had experienced and went through she had never once felt this feeling, a feeling that both excited her and filled her with unbelievable amounts of dread. Standing at the highest peak of the castle in which she lived, her stiletto heels barely fitting on the tiny amount of space available on the peak of the highest tower, she looked up at the yellow moon with curious eyes.

"Should I or shouldn't I" she whispered to herself, it was difficult to make a decision whether or not to explore this. On one hand, hell yeah she should explore this; Morrigan Aensland lived for this sort of thing. Makai was so boring and being almost immortal forced her to starve off boredom by grabbing any sort of adventure she could. On the other hand she was the queen and thus had a duty to her people, a duty she had a history of neglecting thanks to her love of fun. It was ever politically turbulent in Makai, the noble houses were always looking for some kind of reason to dethrone Morrigan. Since force could never work with the succubus, her long streak of flawless victories as evidence to her remarkable battle prowess, the ruling houses could try a coup of some kind if they found out she had disappeared for a while to play in the human world. She had also promised her father, the last king of Makai, to do her best to be a good ruler but he had so much patience when it came to dealing with boredom, unlike her. Amid her thoughts she didn't notice an interloper until they cried out to her "Hey, Your Highness!" Looking down she spotted one of her subjects waving one comically large arm up at her perch, it was the jiangshi Hsien-Ko. While Morrigan didn't really have "friends" per say she did have acquaintances and one of her closest ones besides her sister Lilith was Hsien-Ko. The zombie was quite strong and had participated in many of the wars that had ravaged Makai in order to learn of ways to save her human mother's soul which had been claimed by the darkness.

Leaning coquettishly from her perch Morrigan peered down at her fellow warrior "What is it" she asked. Using her lanky arms the jiangshi effortlessly clambered up to the closest tower to Morrigan which was a few feet away from where she was standing. "The nobles are looking for you again" she informed her queen "They're pestering everyone to help them in the hunt, I'm, surprised I was the first to find you. What are you doing up here?" Not that it would have been inconceivable to be standing her for no reason, the moonlight illuminated the wastelands that surrounded the castle offering a picturesque gothic view of the landscape. "Don't you feel it" Morrigan asked returning her gaze to the moon "The wind is bloated with it." Furrowing her eyebrows Hsien-Ko looked about "I don't really sense anything out of the ordinary, you Highness" she stated before a second voice chided her "Here Sis, let me help you. I swear, you can be so oblivious to these sorts of things." Above Hsien-Ko a ghost appeared, it was her sister Mei-Ling who formed an important portion of their jiangshi body.

Mei-Ling disappeared while the talisman on Hsien-Ko's hat began to glow with a golden height "I still don't see what you two are-oh….wow, how could I have missed that? It's freaking huge" The jiangshi's eyes also began to stare up into space "So; I guess you'll be taking an extended vacation then?" "It's…not that simple" Morrigan replied frowning which got a look of mild bewilderment from Hsien-Ko "What do you mean it's not that simple? I haven't known you for that long but even I know that our esteemed leader is going to be stepping out into the human world without so much as a toodle-loo. It's just what you do." Morrigan smirked "Well, believe it or not I am trying to be a good girl for once in my life. I don't want the nobles to try and take over while I'm out having fun." Hsien-Ko sighed and waved her hand dismissively "Even if they did try something as bone headed as that you'd just kick them out when you returned. It's not like the wars in Makai are going to intensify even more if you decided to go gallavanting about the human world." Morrigan sighed and shivered a bit which traveled up her entire body "Don't tempt me like that Hsien-Ko, just the thought of breaking out of this place is giving me goosebumps. I'm really trying to do the right thing here." Those were hollow words though; she could feel the fire in her veins tingling at the thought of fun that would await her if she decided to ditch all of this for a while.

"If it makes you feel any better your Highness, we sisters can watch over Makai while you're away" Mei-Ling suggested reappearing behind her sister "If anything comes up we'll come and get you. Just leave the portal to the human world open and be sure to have a good time." Morrigan hesitated for a split second before shaking her head at her behavior; restraint would never be one of her strong suits. "I'll bring you back a souvenir or something" the queen of Makai said as she spread her bat wings out in preparation for flight "Watch carefully, I'll show you where the portal is." With a jump she flipped into the air and began to dive off the side of the castle, her wings stretched out to help her control her velocity. About a mile down from her position an inky black and violet vortex opened its maw briefly allowing the succubus inside before it imploded shut with no more than a whoosh. Above them Hsien-Ko shook her head "Sheesh, couldn't you have placed it within easier reach? We don't have wings you know."

The feeling of weightlessness was brief as was the dizzying effect Morrigan felt as she watched the walls ebb in flow in an electric blue light before the portal opened on the opposite side. Gracefully she landed on a tree branch in Central Park while her eyes blinked rapidly as they adjusted from the sudden transition from moonlight to sunlight. 'It's as I suspected' she thought stroking the air with one of her hands 'The energy is quite palpable here. This is much more dangerous than I thought, some of the higher beings are out to play and it seems like I've just crashed their game board.' Gazing about she noted several humans walking through the park trying to stave off the summer heat using the frozen treats that were being sold along the sidewalk. Tapping her chin Morrigan pondered the situation at hand 'If I were a cosmic being mucking around with mortal lives where would I hang out?' Bouncing up and down on the branch she hopped into the air taking flight above the canopy of trees. Careful to keep hidden from human eyes she began to scan the area 'There should be some kind of portal or dimensional crack or…or…oh my.' Inevitably she spotted something that caught her attention, something that looked very familiar. In a secluded glen of the park a man in a white outfit was punching the air practicing his martial arts techniques.

Grinning wolfishly Morrigan quickly alighted on a nearby branch overlooking the man; this particular human had managed to gain her interest awhile back. "Hello Ryu, it's been some time hasn't it" she greeted from her perch. "Huh" Ryu said looking around the glen for whoever was talking to him. "Up here you big stud" she called out crossing her arms so her boobs became more prominent. The man looked up and spied Morrigan "Oh, it's you Ms….uh…um" sighing the queen of Makai shook her head "It's Morrigan, Morrigan Aensland" The man nodded "Ah, right, I'm sorry about that . How are you doing today?" With a flip she jumped off the branch and landed right next to Ryu, a coy smile on her lips "Much better now that you're here" she said while wrapping her arm around his waist "Having you here makes me feel much more secure." He quirked an eyebrow "Ms. Morrigan, you're stronger than me. I doubt you need a bodyguard." Ryu replied looking confused which only made Morrigan's smile widen "You flatter me, but even then it's nice to know you're still around."

"I…suppose" Ryu said still unsure about exactly what was going on "So, um, what brought you here to the human world?" Internally Morrigan debated with herself if she should talk about the cosmic forces that were waging war in this world, it would be good for Ryu to know this beforehand so he could be prepared for coming hazards. Then again now that she was here she would make sure to put a stop to their activities, while she wasn't a protector of the mortal plane by a long shot she did hold a fondness for it and would hate it if something came along and destroyed humankind. "Boredom, really" she said doling out a half truth "Makai gets so stuffy at times I want to scream. The human world is so fascinating which is why I just can't seem to stay away for very long. There seems to be so many…distractions here." Slowly the index finger of her left hand wormed its way under his karate outfit massaging the muscular chest underneath. "Ahhh, I,I see" Ryu replied clearly caught off guard by her touching "Plan to enter any tournaments like the last time?" "Oh, I don't know. Performing in front of so many people at one time can feel so impersonal. I was thinking of something with a much smaller audience." The finger began to descend down Ryu's chest slowly, the edge if his shirt was pushed off to the side revealing more and more of his amazing body.

"I was thinking about some kind of venue that's a bit more private, exclusive really" she breathed into his ear as her finger trailed the ridges of his well defined six pack "Something really intimate where one can really let it all out and come away deeply satisfied by the encounter." Her finger hooked the hem of his pants and slowly began to pull downward but before Morrigan could so much as yank them down an inch Ryu wiggled out of her grasp. "So,so…um, would you like to spar" he asked as a small blush graced his cheeks while he pulled his pants back up and wrapped his shirt back around his body "I'm, n-not in your league but, um, I'm always looking to improve." 'Damn if he isn't cute' Morrigan thought, mused at his antics before she checked herself. "She really couldn't afford to get distracted with Ryu for two very important reasons. One, she was on a mission to find out what the hell was going on in the human world. She could feel a massive amount of energy saturating the very air of this plane meaning that whatever forces were rubbing elbows here were about to do something big and possibly devastating. She didn't have the energy or time to invest with playing hank panky with anyone, even someone as sexy as Ryu. On that note, reason number two was the fact that she was a succubus and her modus operandi, which was written into her very being, was to have sex with men and convert them into her bat followers. A few centuries ago she had been young and naïve, mortal women called this phase their party girl days, she had no hesitations on pursuing her sexual conquests. It was inevitable, after the big climax men would come under her glamour and serve her forever in eternal bliss as one of her retinue. Age had given her a modicum of restraint and empathy for the men who shed their mortal shells to be with her for eternity which fueled her reason to switch her interests from sex to fighting in order to alleviate boredom and to feast on the energies she so enjoyed.

Taking a breath she tried to calm the excitement exploding in her veins "Alright, I'm up for a little one-on-one, so what do you wager?" she asked crossing her arms. "Wager" Ryu repeated in confusion "Can't we just spar?" Morrigan bent over slighty "Oh, come on Ryu. Don't you want to sweeten the pot just a little? It'll be more interesting that way." Ryu shrugged nonchalantly "I don't see the point but if you really want to then I guess it can't hurt." "Ok, then, what do you bet" Morrigan asked with a devious smile "What does your opponent get if they win?" Ryu, who had previously gotten in his battle stance for the upcoming spar, took a step back "What do I bet? Well, to be honest I don't really have anything you'd be interested in" The karate master glanced over at his duffel bag which contained his few worldly possessions, nothing the queen of Makai would be interested in. "I disagree but for the sake of ease why don't we bet anything" Morrigan replied cutting right to the chase "If you lose then your opponent gets to take anything from you." Naturally this little statement, innocuous on its own, was loaded with sexual torque coming from Morrigan's mouth sending a massive shiver up Ryu's spine "I suppose" he conceded with hesitation but before he could get in one more word in edgewise Morrigan readied her stance. "In the interest if keeping this fair and fun I won't use any of my powers" she assured him "Ready when you are."

His turbulent thoughts and emotions were mercifully shut off as Ryu's mind entered battle mode. There was not room for anything else but you and your opponent, only amateurs got distracted by wandering thoughts during the heat of battle. Taking a meditative breath Ryu hunkered down into his stance for a second before rushing toward his opponent. He feinted a shoulder charge before sliding into dive that knocked her flat onto her face. Jumping up he pivoted and tried to finish the battle with a heel drop to her back but the sole of his foot met bare ground as his opponent rolled away. Rallying her resolve Morrigan pushed off the ground with her hands flipping around Ryu's back allowing her force him onto the defensive. Her hands swiped the air, rending it with her nails, as she tried to find purchase on his skin. Shuffling back he kept his arms in front of him allowing them to get lacerated with some shallow cuts but preventing him from performing some sort of reversal. Taking advantage of his inability to return any blows Morrigan grabbed him by the arm and supplexed him. With a small giggle she stood above him, stomping on his prone chest "Get serious" she chided him.

Grunting he took a particularly nasty blow to chest but forced his way onto his feet grabbing Morrigan's calf along the way. He tossed her away giving him some much needed to space to regain his breath. Morrigan on the other hand used one hand to recover from her free fall using the momentum to back slip onto her feet, completely uninjured from the toss. "Don't hold back because I'm a woman." Her jab was baseless, Ryu had learned the hard way how foolish it was to factor in gender when fighting your opponent, courtesy of his friend Chun Li. The first time they had fought, Ryu had consciously held back, he had only fought men before facing the Chinese Interpol agent and his gentle nature had erroneously judged that going all out on a woman would be rude. Chun had taken this attitude badly and the next thing Ryu remembered was waking up from the sound thrashing Chun had subjected him to. The relationship between the two of them had been frosty until Ryu had learned his lesson and beaten Chun Li in a fair contest between the two of them with both opponents using all of their strength. The outcome had been a tally of wounds for the both of them; some memorable ones had been a busted shoulder for Ryu which still occasionally twinged every now and then, a few lost teeth for Chun that had required extensive dental work to repair plus matching black eyes for both of them. Still the lesson Ryu one was an invaluable one, gender has no place in the ring, in addition to breaking the ice with Chun Li, who had become one of his dearest friends.

Stepping closer, the pair feinted for a bit before Ryu managed to pivot around Morrigan and send her sprawling with a jab to the back. Switching their previous positions it was the succubus who was on the backstep as Ryu continued to alternate blows from her head to her midsection. After a few more body blows he used a palm strike to open her guard before launching into one of his signature moves, Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Morrigan went bouncing back across the ground while Ryu took another deep breath opting not to chase, he knew she was ready with a counter attack upon standing back up. Undaunted by the beating she had just received Morrigan picked herself up with a smile; her lip had been cut during the barrage causing her to wipe her face. "That's more like it" she commented "I hate it when men want to be soft and caring; it saps the fun out of everything. I much prefer it to be rough and angry." Jumping up she grabbed a branch above her head and used it to fling herself up into the air where she spun about at an incredible velocity. Ryu barely dodged her bicycle kick but left himself open to her tackle which sent them sprawling onto the ground. The karate master took several punches to the face as he struggled to get her off of him; her blows came too fast and furious to allow him to use his arms to toss her away.

Borrowing one of his best friends' moves he tucked his legs, binding Morrigan with his knees before rolling backwards and using both feet to kick her off of him. She flipped about in midair landing on her feet without being damaged but the follow up haymaker sent her to her knees. "Are you done" Ryu asked watching her struggle to regain her breath. "Trust me, I'm just getting started" Morrigan assured him before getting back up "My stamina is legendary you know." The pair gave themselves some room before beginning again, Ryu flung a Hadouken at her, hoping to force her jump into his Shoryuken but the succubus had other ideas. Swaying back she let the projectile glance off her side and without flinching she dashed forward into a series of kicks. Ryu jumped over her initial low one before ducking under the cross up when she chained it with a high kick. He blocked the mid one launched at his waist but when he sent her spinning in place she used the momentum to launch a kick from his blind side which caught him unaware. As he staggered back she stepped in and grabbed his shoulder in order to spin him like atop. At a precise second she stopped him with his back toward her allowing Morrigan to smack him in the neck with a karate chop sending him onto the ground unconscious. "Looks like I win" she commented to herself using a burst of Makai energy to heal her wounds.

"My, my, so prone, so…vulnerable" she commented as she bent down to examine the sleeping warrior "A pity I can't stand it when they lie there like a sack of potatoes, I'd be all over this one in an instant." Realizing she was going to keep herself entertained until Ryu awoke Morrigan looked around the glen for something to do. A nondescript white duffel bag caught her eye piquing her interest. Ryu was rootless; he wandered from one continent to the next looking for powerful opponents for him to improve his skills against. It was an infuriatingly manly romantic concept, one that made Morrigan reassess her opinion on molesting the unconscious. The moment passed without her changing her opinion on the matter while a new idea implanted itself inside her head, one that gave her goosebumps. 'I wonder what's in that ratty old duffel 'she pondered as she stared at the thing 'I wonder if it's something naughty? Girlie magazines perhaps, or maybe some adult toys?" Her giddiness soured into disappointment as she drew the contents out of the bag 'Underwear, underwear, underwear' she thought nonplussed as she laid the clean white boxers onto the grass 'All clean as well, someone took mother's advice to heart.'

A few hours later Ryu roused himself from his stupor grimacing at the nasty neck ache that sent pain slamming up and down his spine. Slowly getting up into a sitting position he looked around curiously, where had Morrigan gone off to? The answer soon came to him as the queen of Makai strolled out of the brush with some provisions in her hand. "Good morning" she greeted him s she jaunted over to him "I'm sorry that you were out for so long, I always forget how fragile humans are" Any hurt feelings evaporated as she handed Ryu the food she had procured for him, fast food that had probably been bought from one of the food vendors that rimmed the park. It was hardly the healthy stuff he was used to dining on but he had not eaten for a while so he accepted it without reservation. After gobbling it all down he waited patiently for her to finish before he quizzed her on what had happened while he was out. "Oh, this, that, and something else" Morrigan replied vaguely with a whimsical smile "But I won't bore you with the details, how is your food?" "Adequate" he remarked standing up "Where did you get it? I can't imagine that you just walked up to the vendor and paid for it." Morrigan quirked her head "Oh, and why not, isn't that how you mortals do such things?"Ryu bit his tongue as his next statement nearly leapt from his lips, had she really walked up to a poor soul wearing those clothes? "Well, in actuality I didn't pay for these. I stole them from the vendor but he had so many I doubt he would really care if he knew." She confessed finishing the last bite of food "I have a question for you by the way."

Standing up she crossed her arm and gazed at him critically "Do you remember where you woke up this morning?" "That's an odd question" Ryu remarked furrowing his eyebrows "I think it's back this way, I didn't wander away very far before you showed up." "Can you take me to it" Morrigan asked "It's very important." Shrugging Ryu gestured to her to follow her and after some bush whacking they emerged at a small pool of water with waterfall feeding into it. It was a very peaceful place for the ignorant but for Morrigan she found herself wincing at the amount of power concentrated in this place. Pursing her lips she swiped her hand through the air causing small ripples of energy to bounce around the area in front of them. "What the hell" Ryu said watching as Morrigan walked about adding more and more energy ripples "What the hell are you doing?" "It will be easier to show then tell" Morrigan replied "All I need to do is find the weakest point in the dimensional barrier and…aha!" Triumphantly she thrust a hand forward; the ripples she had been creating had found a spot where they disappeared for a second as they were consumed by the Void. Her hand entered this spot which Morrigan popped open by using her nails as a lock pick. The hole gave a clanking sound, similar to how a lock sounds when opened by a key, before widening a considerable amount. It was like a scar on the ensuing space, a hole big enough for a man as large as Ryu to walk through without his shoulders having to touch the adjacent walls of reality. "We got lucky" Morrigan commented as she flitted closer to the Void "You arrived here recently so the dimensions haven't shifted back to normal. I wouldn't have had the power to break it open myself through brute force."

"Where does it lead" Ryu asked edging closer to the space-tie anomaly only for Morrigan to grab him by the collar of his gi and force him back. "Who knows" she said "But what I do know for certain is that something very powerful lies beyond it and wherever it's nesting is no place for mortals like you to tread." She stepped forward, ready to join whatever party was brewing behind the curtain, but a giant hand landed on her shoulder. "I want to come too" Ryu pleaded looking grimly at the tear "My whole life has been about finding tougher and tougher opponents to fight. This will be the perfect test of my abilities to date." Morrigan gave a slightly condescending smile "This isn't some blood tournament against men who have slaughtered children for a negligible boost of power. Whoever these cosmic beings are they've managed to create a massive board with many pieces. Such effort wouldn't have been used if there wasn't something at stake here, something precious. I highly doubt they'll roll out the tea and cake when we crash their party."

Realizing that Morrigan was being serious Ryu's mind raced to find some sort of logic he could use against her. He didn't understand half of what she had said, boards and beings or something like that, but he knew that he wanted to tag along. Sadly he had never been great coming up with quick solutions so he faulted to the old standby, using his body language, Typically this resulted in fist fights which would translate into the feelings he wanted to convey to his opponent, Chun was always rolling her eyes whenever he explained this way of communication commenting it was such a caveman way to talk. Unfortunately for Ryu he couldn't default completely to his modus operandi because there was no time to spar with Morrigan before she disappeared into the Void entirely so he winged it. Unconsciously his body recognized a pattern and instead of grabbing her shoulder or hand Ryu wrapped his arms around her waist gathering the queen of Makai up against his muscle bound chest. Blushing like crazy Ryu fumbled with his words for a bit before settling on a soft "Please". Unseen by his eyes Morrigan had a matching blush, something that surprised her more than the fact Ryu had suddenly broken his single minded focus on improving his karate to try and sweet talk her into letting him come with her into the Void.

"My, my Ryu" she commented trying to recover her smug confidence "I really like this new side of you." With a spin she wriggled her away around so she could face him, her lips lightly brushed up against his bushy cheek. "There are three conditions if you want to come along with me" she whispered into his ear causing a mysterious shiver to hammer down his spine "First condition, you'll stay by my side at all times" To demonstrate her point she grabbed Ryu's waist and somehow managed to bring her closer to him despite the fact they were already in a bear hug. "Similar to this, the second condition is that when I tell you to get out of there you're going to run like a 100 Shin Akumas are on your six." Morrigan couldn't help but smirk a little "Having second thoughts?" "No" he replied, the refusal was not only evident in his voice but also his eyes which burned into her with such unshakable resolve she could feel her face an her blood heat up again. Forcing herself to cool down Morrigan leaned in so her lips were mere inches away from his earlobes "The third condition is that you pay me for ferrying you across the dimension, not to mention babysitting you while we're there." Ryu drew his back so he could face her again "I'm sorry Ms. Morrigan but I don't have any money to pay you."

Morrigan smiled widely "It's not money I'm interested in, I take alternate forms of payment, and luckily for you I see something in you possession that I will take in exchange for my services." Before Ryu could even get an word in edgewise she squirmed her way out of his grip with such a speed and ease that he might as well have been trying to grasp the wind. The only thing that notified him of her escape was the lusty feeling of flesh flowing through his fingers for a brief instant as well as the rustle of cloth in the wind. Morrigan stood before him in the blink of an eye with a smirk on her face; she was bent coquettishly with one hand raised with the top half of Ryu's gi hanging from it. Realizing she had stripped him Ryu reflexively covered his massive chest with a powerful blush blooming from his face to his navel and most likely a bit farther south than that. "Could, could you give that back please" he asked which only made Morrigan chuckle "I suppose but the only thing I'll take in exchange is the bottom half, or you could skip following me in there, your choice really." Ryu didn't even have to debate with himself for a second, calmly he let down his arms, revealing his chest which was bulging with row after row of perfectly sculpted muscle, and nodded "Let's go then." Morrigan paused only for a second to place the gi on before saddling up to Ryu "Very well then, remember to stay close to me and hold on as tight as you can. By the way, I consider your payment to also cover that bet you lost. I'm feeling generous today." Her hand snaked down to his thigh and she pulled him close to her making Ryu blush but before he could pull away she pulled him into the dimensional tear.

Heading through the Void was a crazy sensation, all five of Ryu's senses were assaulted by every possible sensation he had experienced and a few that were completely alien to him. The only constant amid this ocean of chaos was the feeling of Morrigan's hand on his thigh, actually it had inched over a bit sometime after they had entered the hole, and it was more like she was grabbing his ass. Both hours and an instant passed simultaneously before the pair exited into the opposite side, neither had suffered any serious ill effects of traveling between the dimensions. While Morrigan was alert and scanning the place they had emerged with paranoid vigil Ryu was bent over trying to cross his breath, the strain of travel had gotten to his mortal body which never should have experienced such a thing, still aware that Morrigan's hand was firmly planted on his ass. Yet despite the amount of time that had passed, several minutes at least, he was unable to catch his breath leaving him as exhausted as before. "What…gives" he asked as he continued to heave for breath "It's an effect of this space" Morrigan explained "We need to get moving, it won't be long now that they'll notice our breaking and entering." Helping him straighten back up, she placed one of his arms over her shoulder and the pair began to walk deeper and deeper into the space. Idly Ryu looked around; it sure wasn't what he expected when he pictured a space within a dimensional tear. They were currently traveling down a hallway; the end of it contained the dimensional tear they had entered through and the other end emptied out into a dead end lobby.

The walls were crafted of pure white marble that gleamed with an uncomfortable sheen from the ambient light that had no source. The only decorations were small blocks of marble that lined the corridor that had ornate roses carved on their surfaces. The lobby emulated the hallway with its materials and accessories save a small spiral staircase that rose up so far into the air that Ryu couldn't see where it stopped. While he was gazing around the room he began to feel…strange. Not the frentic strange he felt around Morrigan, whose hand had still not left his ass or the dangerous strange he felt whenever he was around people with murderous intent like Bison or Akuma. The longer he stared at the walls the more disoriented Ryu felt, it was as if the walls were ebbing and flowing like water. Sometimes it felt like the room was as wide as the ocean and in the blink of an eye the walls had drawn in within few inches of where he stood giving him a bout of claustrophobia. Sensing his disorientation Morrigan hoisted herself in front of the karate master "Focus on me for a bit Ryu" she instructed him "Physic doesn't exist in this plane so the mortal mind can easily get overwhelmed by this space." He nodded weakly before taking some deep breaths, absentmindedly he noted that merely walking down the wall had exhausted him enough to cause sheen of sweat to coat his entire body.

Once he had regained his bearings the pair began to hike up the stairs at a slow and steady pace, Ryu had to be careful to maintain his strength since he wouldn't be able to recover it in this weird place. As they climbed he did his best to keep his gaze rooted firmly on the stairs themselves, they seemed pretty safe to look at and getting vertigo now could be lethal with the railing being only waist high. Morrigan had taken her hand off his ass for the time being, not out of any sense of respect for his personal space but because the stairs were too narrow for more than one person to ascend them at a time. Instead she led the way with one hand on the railing and one hand clasping Ryu's. "Why is this place here" he asked "Does it have some connection with why I fell asleep in Africa and ended up in America?" Morrigan nodded "Believe it or not you've been transported to another world." "This isn't the first time its happened" Ryu admitted scratching the back of his head "But you make it sound like I was transported here on purpose." "You were" Morrigan said "There are two beings with unbelievable powers playing a game and you've been selected as one of the pawns." "Why me?""Why not you? You're strong and skilled; you're a great choice to be a piece in this game. But you may not have been chosen specifically, they might have simply picked the pawns at random." Morrigan said "This is merely speculation of course but I'll be getting answers soon enough." Ryu nodded in agreement "Right, let's stop them" but instead of agreeing Morrigan grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at her.

"Hate to break it to you stud but I'm planning on joining the game, not breaking it up." Morrigan said with a smirk before letting go of his chin and continuing her trek up the stairs. "Why would you do that?" Ryu asked her frowning "These people are playing with the lives of others and you want to join them in their twisted game?" Undaunted by his disapproval Morrigan shrugged "Fun is fun is Ryu and if there is one thing I love it's fun. So maybe a dozen or so mortal lives are extinguished because of this game, a small sacrifice to assure my entertainment and trust me when I say that avoiding boredom is worth any sacrifice." Ryu would have argued vehemently with this but then the world decided to spaz for a second before the stairs disappeared leading into a huge space in the span of about a second. Surprised by the sudden special swap Ryu back stepped out of reflex only to return to the stairwell they had climbed with his foot dangling precariously off the top of the stairs. He was about to take a tumble backwards which most likely would have sent him smacking up against the small railing sending him off the stairwell entirely plummeting to his doom. Luckily Morrigan had meant it when she said she would babysit him, in a flash she materialized at the top of the stairs and pulled him right when his potential energy became kinetic energy sending them both back into the giant arena.

"Glad you paid me now, aren't you" Morrigan asked rubbing the top half of the gi "Stick closer to me, ok?" He half expected her to grab his ass again but she chose to examine the new area they were in instead, the scenery had changed from blandly spectacular to mind blowingly out-of-this-world, literally. They were standing on a platform that seemed to extend for miles; it was made of the same kind of shiny white marble the corridor and stairs had been crafted of. Above them lay the sky where countless stars could be glimpsed as they passed by at an amazing speed; constellations formed and dispersed, white and blue giants formed from the vacuum of space aging into red giants which decayed into supernovas that began to cycle again by birthing more stars. It took a slap from Morrigan to wake Ryu out of his stupor "Don't get lost in it" she warned him in a dangerously low tone "You might not be able to get back if you get wrapped up in the splendor." "How is this possible" he asked trying his best to stop his mind from racing "Who could possibly be able to do this?" "Like I said, these beings are godlike. This is basic decor for anyone with even a smidge of omnipotent power."

The queen of Makai smirked as she spotted the only other feature left on this plane, a giant door at the very end of the arena. She began to quickly make her way over, Ryu followed behind her cautious of whatever else this immaterial space hid within its scenic depths. The door was grotesquely beautiful in a way that transcended mortal art, it too was white like marble but instead of stone it had been crafted from skeletons. Adoringly they gazed into each other's eyes, like if they were sharing some sort of great honor that had been bestowed upon them all, while their bodies were twisted at odd angles in order to form the door. Hands grasped hands, bony fingers interlocking like the branches of a birch. Feet tangled themselves about bodies; toes poked their way into random spaces such as ribs or eye sockets and mouths. With ghoulish grins they pressed their faces close to each other so their beautiful ivory cheek caressed beautiful ivory cheek as a few select ones stared down at the interlopers with empty eyes filled with immaterial mirth. "Worshippers" Morrigan commented as she surveyed the door with nonchalance "Their lifetime of faithfulness was rewarded by becoming building materials for their gods."

Morrigan strolled up to the door with one hand raised "Knock, knock" she said "Let's see what's behind door number one." Before her hand could hit the door the queen of Makai looked up sharply "Shit" before flipping backwards as a shower of lightning blasted the floor where she had been kicking up a sheet of opaque dust. With a huff she landed next to Ryu "Should known there'd be a bouncer." The bouncer descended from above, heralded by streaks of light, looking like anything but a bouncer. It was an angel, tall and graceful, with beautiful white wings that barely flapped as she landed from her flight in front of the door protectively. With piercing gold eyes she glared at Morrigan "Vile creature, how dare you profane the land of gods. You were not summoned into this world, you shall return from whence you came or suffer the consequences." Snorting in amusement Morrigan swiped a hand in front of her dismissively "Crashing parties is what I do. You aren't the first bouncer to try and keep me away and you won't be the first to send me away with my tail between my legs." Turning her gaze away from the queen of Makai the angel studied Ryu instead "A mortal? Why dost thou follow such a monster? Return to the world and continue to serve the gods who have summoned thou here. Mayhap if you make haste I will stay my hand permitting you to live to fight another morrow."

Shaking his head Ryu settled into his stance "No thanks, I carve my own path with these hands that have faced mighty foes before. I've faced cowards before, cowards who have manipulated lives on order to further their own ends and if these are the kinds of people your gods are then I'll put an end to their scheming." Sighing the angel shook her head in disappointment "Poor, unfortunate soul, the mortal mind is unable to comprehend the differences in power between us. If you wish to stand and fight me then you will be judged all the same." Lifting her hand she grasped a strand of sunlight which materialized into a staff with an ornate head "Last chance mortal, run back and serve in bliss or die here. As for you, demon, you will be expunged from the board." "Oh, I don't think so" Morrigan replied stretching her wings in anticipation "Though I do have to ask, would you happen to have sort of male counterpart or something. Fighting women is so boring, men are much more exciting." The angel shook her head "You face Marietta: The Gatekeeper. You shall not pass into the land of the gods!" Prepared to throw down Ryu took a step forward but Morrigan thrust a hand in front of him "Nice try but if there was one thing that winged bitch got right it was the fact she's got you beat in terms of power. Be a good boy and wait over there for a bit, this will only take a second." Frowning Ryu grabbed her wrist "I've never backed down from a fight and I never will." Rolling her eyes Morrigan turned her head towards Marietta "I don't know about you but it's been a long time since I've gone all out. Since there aren't any hot men to take your place in this fight is going to be a drag otherwise. Mind showing me a little mercy and keep the mortal out of this fight? I can't fight at full power while worrying about ruining my shoes if I step on him by accident."

Marietta shrugged "Consider this my last act of mercy" she slammed her staff onto the ground while Morrigan pushed Ryu back a few feet. "I'll make it up to you" she promised him as a giant gilded cage enveloped him "Be a good boy and wait for me here." He shot her a betrayed look "Let me out, Morrigan" but she ignored him to focus on her winged foe. "Whenever you're ready" she said leaning back into a casual battle pose "Do try to make this interesting." Sweeping her staff Marietta summoned balls of holy light that flew at Morrigan at blistering speeds ready to reduce her to little more than a malevolent pile of ash. Not wanting to get pinned down the demon queen took into the air, her wings transforming into her signature rockets to give her a boost of power, dodging the bullets with quick flips and twists. In between volleys Morrigan transformed her wings into salvos which shot a barrage of missiles at the angel. Marietta didn't even flinch as the ballistics impacted around her, when the smoke cleared the gleam of a transparent blue force field could be seen for the blink of an eye before it disappeared. "Cheating" Morrigan said crossing her arms "You're just set on letting this battle drag on and on aren't you?"

"My entire existence is based entirely on guarding this door" Marietta stated "If you're going to stand before me and fight then you will do so knowing thine life is forfeit should you lose." "Alright, alright, stop having fun guys. I get it." Morrigan replied pouting "This is why I hate fighting girls; they don't get the concept of a fun fight. It's all life or death fight club style." As if to prove her point the angel suddenly raised her staff above her head while her wings stretched out to the zenith of their span "Heavenly light take flight through the air as my wings" she chanted as her wings began to glow "Angel Feathers!" Enough feathers to fill one hundred beds molted off Marietta's wings, hung in the air for a second before blasting forward at unbelievable an unbelievable velocity. Morrigan didn't even bat an eyelash, the feathers were merely a cover, and as she raised her wings to deflect the attack she placed both her hands onto the floor and channeled the power of Makai. In the midst of the storm Marietta swooped close knowing perfectly well that her opponent couldn't see her. Whirling her staff about her body she easily spied Morrigan's dark clothes being barraged by the white feathers and curved to the right allowing her to smash her opponent in the head. The joke was on her though; the staff phased completely her opponent's body impacting the floor with a loud crack. "What in the name of the gods" she whispered as the feather storm cleared revealing the demon was nowhere in sight. A nasty kick slammed into her back, the sharp stilettos Morrigan perpetually wore slashed the skin leaving lacerations in their midst. "I see that shield is far from perfect" Morrigan remarked as she pushed her opponent to the ground then proceeded to stomp on her adding some stab wounds to the lacerations "Want to give up now?"

"You'll have to kill me to stop" Marietta replied swatting Morrigan away with her staff before escaping into the air. Blasting off in pursuit the queen of Makai summoned several of her bat entourage to aid her in aerial combat. Arcing through the sky Marietta swiped her staff through the air sending ribbons of light in an effort to drive off her pursuers, a couple of the ribbons were able to tag the bats disintegrating them immediately. Corralling together in a tight formation Morrigan began to twist in the air with the bats spiraling beside her allowing her to send out a truly massive beam of energy that overwhelmed her opponent. For a second Ryu was certain the angel's shield hadn't been able to cover her in time but his hopes were dashed when a flash of vivid blue could be easily seen from within the midnight black that swallowed the air. Fluttering back towards Morrigan the angel slammed her staff into the demon sending her to the ground. With a grunt Morrigan got back up just in time to see the rest of her bat retinue get finished off with short swipes. "I'm sorry" she whispered to them as their souls that she had claimed for her own disappeared from her glamour into the icy blackness of death "This is personal now you winged bitch."

Hovering in the air Marietta glared down at her opponent with utter contempt "Crying over the souls you dragged into hell with your sexual traps? Are you having fun yet?" Instead of replying Morrigan coolly placed her hands down on the floor which was so shiny Ryu could see his reflection in it. Pushing off she summoned another mirror image that stood next to her, completely indistinguishable from the original save for a patch of transparency that roved across the image's body in a random pattern. From previous fights with the queen of Makai Ryu knew that even if the image looked fake it could hit as hard as the original and Morrigan often summoned it to allow her to flank her opponent. With a smirk the pair launched into the air flying serpentine to avoid the bolts of lightning the angel summoned. Undaunted by the death striking the air about them Morrigan gave last barrel roll which swung perpendicular to her the way her clone was heading before engaging in melee. 'Let's see if my hunch is right' she thought wryly as she launched a kick at her opponent's chest with her heels that had turned into a pair of wicked looking blades. Her attack clanged uselessly against the staff but her doppelganger struck gold as it slashed at the angel's unprotected back. Grimacing Marietta tried to smash the demon away only to have the strike parried again and again by a smug Morrigan.

"It's a pity all your power lies in range, you're making this too easy" the demon queen remarked as she once again kicked the staff away but her confidence was dented as her mirror image piped up "She might have noodle arms but damn if she doesn't have thick skin." Despite the fact her heel blades could routinely slice through steel the kicks she had been launching at Marietta had bounce off her skin save for a few shallow cuts that bled white ichors. "Someone's been eating their Wheaties" she remarked "Or is this your force field at work?" Instead of replying Marietta let her guard down taking several strikes to the face which failed to so much as jar a single flake of skin loose before using the opening to pump Morrigan full of heavenly lightning. The pair fell to the ground, the image vanished the moment it impacted the floor but Morrigan left a small crater from which a few tendrils of smoke from her charred body wafted out. Deciding that there was no kill like overkill the angel blanketed the area several times with more lightning bolts to insure that her demonic counterpart would not be rising anytime soon.

"Ms. Morrigan" Ryu shouted pounding the bars with his fists; he hated it when he was forced to witness some great injustice while he stood their helpless from the sidelines. Satisfied she had nuked the unholy shit out of her opponent the angel began to descend on outstretched wings with a look that could freeze the oceans. "You have been, weighed, measured, and found wanting" she announced as her bare feet touched the floor "Look upon this body, mortal, and know what it means to defy the gods." But Marietta had proclaimed her victory too soon and paid a steep price for her arrogance, a horde of winged blackness shot out from the smoke with the horrible clatter of shrieks. The darkness circled the defenseless angel who shrieked as it tore at her body in a rabid frenzy. It took Ryu a while before he could identify what the black crowd was; it was a full troop of Morrigan's bat that assaulted her with nasty bites that drew blood. Every now and then the demon queen materialized within the bat horde to launch nasty swipes at Marietta's face. Relentless to the end Morrigan only saw fit to stop her attack when her opponent sank to the ground unconsciously. Giving her one last nasty kick the demon queen sauntered over to the gild cage that Ryu was trapped in and picked the lock with one for fingernails.

"That was so boring" Morrigan groused "I hope the gods who employed her are not as incompetent as their guard dog or there will be hell to pay." Ryu had no sympathy for his succubus companion choosing to resolutely loo away from her with an angry frown plastered on his face. Sensing his ire at her choice to lock him up Morrigan turned on the charm "Don't be mad, stud. I know you wanted to fight and all but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." A devious little smirk cut its way onto her face and with small jump she latched onto his bare chest, her arms around his back while burying her face into his muscular pecs. Taken aback Ryu backpedaled a bit with a blush beginning to bloom on his face "What are you.." He was too conflicted to put together anything that could have resembled a complete sentence, he wasn't sure if it was her that was inciting this feeling within in his gut but something akin with the passion he felt whenever facing down a powerful foe began to grind through his veins, something that seemed exhilarating and a bit forbidden at the same time. Coyly Morrigan extracted her face from his chest, where she had been enjoying the scent o0f his skin, and looked up at him with the best bedroom eyes in the entire world "How can I make it up to you? If you stop being mad at me I'll consider the fact that I kept you from the fight to be something of a debt, a pretty big one considering how powerful she was. I'm going to have to pay you back in a big way, aren't?" She leaned in till her lips were a mere inch away from his trembling ones "I'll give you whatever you want" she whispered to him in a sultry voice.

Ryu was too busy dealing with foreign new feelings to notice the faint shaft of light that had fallen upon Marietta's body. Likewise Morrigan was too busy trying to seduce the karate master to pay attention to anything else save for a brief flash of power which stopped her advances cold. 'That power…what in Makai was that?' Decades of experience took the form of unconscious action as the succubus pushed the object of her affection to the floor before pivoting on her foot with her wings raised to block the attack.

_O gatekeeper_

_of the sanctified realm... _

_Retribution awaits_

_those who defile thy home."-Words of the high seraph Flauvel, The First Guardian of the gates of heaven_

Despite her guard the flood of holy lightning filled the entire space leaving only Morrigan's weak shadow as the only spot where the cleansing light did not reach. Curled up within its safety was Ryu who couldn't move, his eyes were overwhelmed by the intensity that flowed around him like a raging river. He wasn't sure how long the attack lasted but when the holiness faded from the surrounding the first thing that filled his vision was Morrigan who stood there unflinching. Had her last minute guard spared her from the devastation? Concern turned to worry as Morrigan collapsed to the side revealing horrid three degree wounds that had grafted themselves onto her body. Her clothing was gone but instead of nubile flesh Ryu was subject to a horribly malformed corpse that was the shade of old charcoal briquette from top to bottom. The body gave off tons of smoke but the smell of cooking flesh did not waft into the air at all despite the condition of the corpse. Stunned, Ryu fought for a while in order to find his voice "Morrigan" he whispered, his voice barely more than a whisper. The question shook him out of his stupor and the karate master crawled over beside the former remains of the demon queen "Morrigan" he screamed, desperate to do something to help her but he was afraid that if he touched her body it would crumble into ash.

In the midst of his hysteria the angel landed back on the ground and walked over beside him "Now do you understand the fate of those who defy heaven?" she asked nonchalantly, her body showing no signs of the damage Morrigan had inflicted before "Despair at your folly or blame the gods; that seems to be a recurrent action among your kind." Raising her staff above her head Marietta prepared herself to execute Ryu "Now that I am merciful, dost thou have any last confessions of sin before thou art expunged from this world forever. I shall listen to thy trespasses and you shall leave knowing that your soul's burden had been lifted a mite." Silently Ryu clenched his fists, words would never be his strong suit, and yet the two perfect words for this situation leapt from his lips. "Fuck you" he snarled as he launched an attack from his position crouched by Morrigan's side "Shoryuken!" His flaming fist contacted with Marietta's chin, for the rest of his life Ryu would always consider this Shroyuken to be the best one he had ever thrown. Yet despite the power behind it the angel's chin didn't budge, not even an inch. She simply glared at him through the fire that coated his knuckles until it died before peaking to him. "Such is the mark of a man" she sighed before launching a puny lightning bolt from her staff. Even though it was weak by Marietta's standards it was more than enough to send a simple mortal like Ryu onto the ground screaming for dear life. Convulsing madly he twisted and turned about to somehow escape the pain, a pain that did not dull the senses after a time but was as sharp and painful as it had been when it first touched his skin.

While he rolled about like a worm Marietta couldn't help but comment "Your heart is surprisingly pure. There is very little violence or lust hiding within its depths." Even while she commented about it a small but steady strand of darkness began to filter out of Ryu's body. "But I see you have been tempted by the forces of darkness and conceded to their destructive contract. The potential to use the Satsui no Hadou burns in your veins, it is only the spiritual purity that you have devoted your life to that has kept its will at bay for so long." Suddenly she looked up as if to heed someone who had called her name "Very well Master, I exist to do your bidding" she said after a few moments. Relinquishing her attack she knelt down next to Ryu and gripped him by the hair "Dost thou want to walk out of here alive" she asked as she forced his face up so she could see his tear streaked face "All that is required is thine permission, permission to unlock the chains that bind thine heart." Unable to comprehend her words through the pain Ryu simply looked at her cluelessly as his pupils dilated in preparation to faint.

Shaking him Marietta asked again "Dost thou relinquish thine restriction to me or shall I finish the judgment?" Somewhere in the back of his mind Ryu was able to reason that the pain would stop if he shook his head, he complied at once. Satisfied that this was conscious consent the angel placed him back on the ground and turned him over so his chest was facing up to the sky. Placing the butt of her staff slightly left of his breastbone where underneath his heart pumped tirelessly.  
As light and darkness are different sides of the same coin so too are they potential keys to unlocking the potential for good and evil inside a man's heart. Using a wash of light Marietta remembered the words of her master "The closer you get to the light, the longer your shadow grows." This principle lay dormant within any being capable of both sin and salvation, Ryu's heart was no exception. The tiny stream of darkness that had emanated from his heart began to ebb in an increasingly aggressive way. The darkness slowly began to make its way down Ryu's skin tainting it with an ashen black pigment. Once he was covered from tip to toe in the darkness Marietta eased off of him noting the faint sound of children laughing in her ears. Her work done she waved her staff over Ryu's body healing the wounds she had inflicted and locking away the darkness till a time when it suited her master's purpose to unleash it from its dormant state.

The karate master came to a bit later, his mind was blank save for the feeling that he needed to return to the world from which he had entered this place. He took several steps towards the stairs before a pair of thoughts interfered with the need to flee. First he looked around till he saw Morrigan's body; it had been left where she had been smote earlier. Carefully he gathered up what remained of her in his arms, the heat from the Angelic Thunder attack was still searing hot but he ignored the pain. Secondly he looked around for the angel who attacked him; he came up with nothing which made him feel slightly more relaxed than he had before. With a deliberately slow pace he began to descend the stairs to avoid jostling the corpse of the queen of Makai. His head disappeared for several moments before the door Morrigan had wanted to enter groaned as one of the occupants' stuck their heads out to scope the area. "What the hell are you doing" Player Two asked gruffly, annoyed at the delay in their game "Are you gonna finish your turn or what?" "Give me a second" Player One barked back "Forgive me if I thought I heard something out here. It could have been that bastard." "It's clearly not so you best not jinx us" Player Two responded which caused Player One to role his eyes "A little caution never hurt anyone." Happy that it hadn't been that overpowered player the god returned to his game unaware that Marietta had floated back down the minute he had left so she could continue to guard her post in front of the door.

Meanwhile Ryu stepped out of the portal, the previous vertigo he had felt during the first crossing failed to distract his numb mind. The dimensional tear closed without so much as a sound leaving the karate master and the corpse alone in the small glen with the tiny waterfall. Setting the body down on the green grass Ryu sat next to it with his legs crossed. Behind him the sun had begun to set, much time had passed while they had traversed the world where the gods played their games. Glumly Ryu stared at the corpse, for some reason his entire mind had shut down to avoid being overwhelmed from the rage he felt toward the being who had struck her down. Potential, it was the word that Ryu felt best grasped the feelings that were threatening to explode inside his gut. The loss of potential, the potential for what he wasn't sure, most likely it was the loss of Morrigan as a sparring partner. And yet it wasn't the sparring match he had with her earlier that continued to replay in his mind, it was when she had hugged him in apology for excluding him from the fight against Marietta. The way she clung to him allowing her body to mold onto his like a second skin, the way her nails had felt as they lightly trailed their way down his spine in the direction of his pants, the feeling of her tongue licking his nipple as she buried her face into his chest, it made no sense whatsoever that he was thinking about this and why he had gotten so enraged at her passing but he couldn't deny the veracity of these emotions.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the miniscule rising of her chest till a small, almost inaudible, moan waft from her lips. Startled Ryu realized that Morrigan had not yet kicked the bucket despite her charred appearance and yet even within this small spot of hope he began to despair once again. Where the hell could he take her to get treated for her wounds, if they were even treatable, and would she be able to handle him picking her up and transporting her to the nearest hospital? Panicking Ryu began to lightly punch a tree, his version of a stress ball, when it suddenly came to him. His master had told him how one could use the chi inside their body for minute healing purposes. Practitioners of chi healing who devoted their lives to the art could cure first degree burns or fix an erratic heartbeat with a single touch. Sadly Ryu had never studied this technique; it took too much time away from his martial studies for a benefit that was too small to use effectively in combat. But he was out of options for now; even though he had a higher reserve of chi than most folks Ryu doubted that his roughshod try might do more good than harm he decided that doing something would always be better than sitting around helplessly. Placing one index finger on the middle of her chest and one on her head Ryu began to channel chi as best he could. His experience with chi usage was spectacular, his Hadouken was proof of the experience he had with drawing optimal amounts in lightning fast time he had to constantly monitor the amount he was pumping into Morrigan. Too much and it would turn it into a destructive force which would harm her while too little wouldn't be the least bit effective.

For a while nothing happened, Ryu just grunted as he applied the chi into Morrigan which did not rouse her in the slightest. As his body began to sweat from the humidity of the evening coupled with the concentration he was exerting, one particularly fat droplet rolled off his brow and snaked its way down his face, through the forest of bristly stubble that had accumulated over the course of yesterday and today, and down his neck. Its path continued down his chest where it zigzagged through the lines of muscles which were well defined as they strained with the efforts of the body before the droplet before circling past the navel and into his pubic hair. Unbeknownst to Ryu the hem of his pants had been slowly lowering during his trek down from the door, the white material was just barely preventing Ryu from exposing himself to the world. While he was unaware of how low they had wriggled down he suddenly became intensely aware of the sweat drop which had entered the untrimmed forest of his pubic hair, oozed its way through bringing forth an electric feeling which intensified as it shimmied down his long shaft before humping the head before dropping onto the crotch of his low hanging pants.

This jolt of lust, rarely felt before by the battle focused warrior, was the catalyst he needed to help Morrigan out. Unable to drain the emotions of duty that bound his heart the chi that was being pushed into her chest was as impotent as hell. With the lust acting as a much needed key to make the chi absorbable by the succubus which she drank greedily. With a sharp exhale Ryu felt a sudden tug as his chi began to flow rapidly out of him, with a small smile he realized his roughshod method was working against all odds. His brief spit of relief turned to curiosity when he realized the volume of the chi being drained from his system along with the speed by which she was snatching it from him. A few minutes later Ryu was fighting to keep his chi levels up, the sweat of his brow began to intensify as his concentration peaked. Yet even while he fought to keep steady in the back of his mind something was screaming at him to cut the connection, a voice he heeded as best he could. Horrifyingly he found that he could not pull away from Morrigan, somehow the succubus had managed to place him under a glamour strong enough to mentally paralyze him in place.

Chi was a very important force in the human body, for practitioners it was considered corporeal energy in direct contrast to the celestial energy that was exuded by the soul. Most humans would never tap into this energy in their life times and as such they would never run the risk of overspending their chi. One of the first things any budding martial arts practitioner learned was how to tell when their chi was at its limit, often before they learned to harness the energy at all. Ryu's body was approaching chi exhaustion at the speed of a bullet train and the effect could be seen on his body. His chest heaved with powerful gasps as he pulled in as much oxygen as he could into his lungs. His muscles tensed to their maximum while the new wave of sweat that had washed over him thanks to the strain covered him in a shiny sheen, his nipples in particular had adopted a much rosier color. Unconsciously he began to moan with each breath as his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "C'mon Morrigan" he pleaded "You…you…gotta stop, I can't t-t-take-!" His heartbeat quickened as the drain kicked into overdrive, the area where his hands were situated began to glow white as the chi was sucked into Morrigan. "Ah..ah.."Ryu groaned as he felt the last vestiges of his chi begin to slip through his finger

"No…no...Ah, ah, ah ,ah…Oh Morrigan" he cried out as both the last drops of chi flowed into Morrigan while the erection he had been unconsciously nursing the entire time he had been tending to Morrigan suddenly erupted into a geyser of liquid white which splashed back onto his head since the hem of his pants was pressed tight up against it. Stunned into silence Ryu's mind was reduced into a pleasant feeling void as the warrior collapsed onto his stomach. While he faded into unconsciousness the charred body that had been Morrigan lay next to him, despite the energy drain it had inflicted on Ryu its color had not faded at all. A few hours passed allowing the moon to prematurely climb into the sky; it was a full moon that glimmered strongly even though the sun had not yet faded past the horizon. Underneath its rays the bloated, ashen black body began to shake, a butterfly was beginning to emerge from its corpse cocoon. Flecks of burnt skin began to crumble around the right hand of the former succubus until a large enough crack formed to allow one to glimpse at the bone white skin that lay hidden beneath. Pulsing with life the hand shook of what it had once been comprised off until it could lift its arm up unto the moonlight. The perfectly manicured fingers flexed experimentally before reaching down and breaking off the shapeless mask that had previously been the face. Morrigan lay underneath the ash, a satisfied smile plastered on her face.


	15. A Storm Approaches

Chapter 15: A Storm Approaches

It came quickly and without warning, a mere month after the first one had been shut down thanks to the government. A second zombie invasion flooded New York City. The midnight hour marking the end of the thirtieth day was also the summons for the hordes of undead that sprang out of the shadows from the ether. The casualties were staggeringly high, the first one had been quite destructive as well but the sheer magnitude of lives lost easily eclipsed the first by several thousand. Anyone who found themselves accosted by the rotting corpses amid the glow of the streetlights were immediately devoured with sharpened teeth and slavering fang. Each of these victims arose again but instead of a healthy pallor their skin had decayed into mush, a symbol of their new found alliances. Bolstered by the reinforcements the horde managed to go unnoticed by the general populace until the first vestiges of sunlight broke weakly over the tops of the skyscrapers. Without the government to muzzle their horror the mass took to the Internet and, in lieu of the news being shut down because none of the reporters would brave the streets to attend to their posts, the word got out to everyone from Brooklyn to Beijing. Panic overcame everyone as the scope of the damage that had been done began to be uncovered with many more beginning to assume that this would be the end of civilization, one could hear George Romero laughing from his grave.

For Chris and his gang they weren't made aware of the situation until late the following morning. Much to her chagrin Malice found the majority of that morning under the steady instruction of who was having all three of them practice drills up on the roof. After that disastrous battle with the mystery assassin the CIA agent had decided that they were in dire need of learning how to fight like a team. Amused by her proposition Rocket Raccoon asked, innocently enough, if the redhead had experience in battling as a team which silenced her immediately. Pursing her lips had admitted she typically did her work solo, such a confession made Malice give a bitter little laughing bark. It was clear to her the rest of the "team" thought she had been the reason they had lost against the ninja, a preposterous claim but one they sullenly believed. glared at her and it seemed like there would be another argument on the horizon but Chris, ever the mediator, had interposed himself between the two women. Calmly he said that he agreed with , they needed to work better as a team if they were going to get to the bottom of this multi-dimensional high jacking.

Hence here the angel was, Skadi twirling about the air around her as she went through some basic ax katas. Conscious not to convert her energy into frost Malice swept the head through the air as it went in for a slash before gracefully changing the attack into a two handed guard which ended her kata. "Slow" commented critically "There were a ton of openings for a speedy opponent to take advantage of. Do it again and do it faster." Growling Malice bit back a venomous response, she wanted to wring the Sprite's neck like a piece of Slumber Ivy but previous spars against the redhead made her hesitant to lash out. When she was outvoted in regards to early morning drills Malice had refused to participate in anything, drills, chores or even food procurement. Chris had tried to reason with her again but she merely proffered him a cold shoulder, a barrier even the experienced B.S.A.A captain found impossible to overcome. Annoyed at the man's ineffective attempts to change her opinion had thrown down the gauntlet and challenged Malice to a battle, if she won then Malice had to do drills with the rest of the team and clean up her attitude but if the angel won she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to. Eager to put the arrogant Sprite in her place Malice accepted, believing the redhead would be no match for her diviner. The match had lasted a humiliating twenty seconds; had put Malice down after ducking under a swipe from Skadi with a well-placed kick to the face. Furious, Malice demanded a rematch believing that the Sprite had cheated and had complied, ten rounds later Malice was sporting a collection of bruises without having so much as bumped the CIA agent with her weapon.

Grinding her teeth so hard that Malice wouldn't have been surprised if she had bitten off her own tongue she redid the kata with a reluctant increase in speed she ended once again in a block. Shaking her head sighed "Still too slow, repeat that kata thirty more times and notch up the speed with each rotation." Huffing Malice blew the hair out of her eyes "This isn't working" she grumbled hefting the ax onto her shoulders "I'm going to get some water." Without being dismissed the angel stomped down the stairs leaving a disapproving in her wake "You get fifteen minutes for a water break then you do fifty rotations of that kata." Her voice dared Malice to defy her, a fact that rankled the angel especially since Malice knew that she would obey despite how much she hated the redhead. Turning her attention from the angel surveyed the progress Chris and Rocket Raccoon were making. They already had some experience with watching each other's back so had them get familiar with each other's weapons. Since both were marksman it would behoove them to be able to swap weapons on the fly if some situation came up, like a damaged weapon or an opponent who could resist either conventional or space weaponry, they could use their partner's weapon without a hitch.

Chris had been enthusiastic about learning the ins and outs of alien weaponry, Rocket Raccoon…not so much. "Bloody Earthlings" the anthropomorphic animal swore as he weighed the M16 in his paw "This balance is absolute shit, the recoil is ridiculous, and the metal is unbelievably hard to keep polished. I feel like a fucking primate here." Ignoring his gripes reached into her back pocket and withdrew several rubber balls "Ready for some target practice" she asked as she began to juggle them in the air. Both of them nodded and took aim as ten balls flew into the air with differing speeds and heights. All of them either exploded into strips of rubber or were melted into piles of bubbling goo, the marksmen were ten for ten even though they were using alien weaponry. Satisfied with the results, crossed her arms "You two seemed to have taken to this with an impressive display of adaption." Rocket Raccoon shrugged as he and Chris swapped firearms "Ain't that big a deal, lass. While I hope to the stars I'll never have to use the bleeding thing knowing the ins and outs is better than sitting in a fire fight with my trousers down because I don't know how to shoot the blooming thing." Chris nodded pensively "Same here. How did the drills with Malice go?" he looked about the roof noting that the angel was nowhere in sight "That badly, huh?"

"It's not that she's completely inexperienced but it's clear that all these 'demons' she claims to have hunted must have all been crippled or blind" said "I can stand her not having the technique to overpower people like you or me but her absolute refusal to entertain so much as a thought that she might not be as great a warrior that she believes is really beginning to grate on my nerves. This attitude is undermining any attempt I'm trying to make in improving her fighting style. She's constantly belligerent about everything. To be honest I would support kicking her out of the apartment." waited for a tic before resuming her argument, she knew this would be a tough sell to the guys who weren't feed up enough yet with Malice to seriously consider cutting her from the team but it was better to air this now than when emotions were beginning to run high. "There's more at stake here than just hunting down Wesker, we also have to pump him for information on what he knows about our predicament. If what you say about him is true, Chris, then no doubt we'll have to fight him at some point and I cannot get into a situation like that knowing that one of my allies shares the same amount of concern about my wellbeing with a runaway bullet train." Chris frowned "I understand your concerns but I am against kicking her out of the apartment. She's an alien in this world and aggressive in most social situations. I couldn't bear to have it on my conscience if we abandoned her. However, I would be open to leaving her at the apartment while we go and look for Wesker, it'll be less dangerous for all of us that way."

"She ain't going to like that mate" Rocket Raccoon pointed out as he checked his weapon nonchalantly "That lass is ornery about everything and keeping her locked up just might get yer neck hacked off while you kip." Before they could continue the debate Malice reappeared on the roof looking both angry and surprised "Do demons routinely wander into your buildings any time they damn please or are you all that helpless" she snarled at them which garnered some odd looks from the rest of the group. "The hell you jabbering on about" Rocket Raccoon asked which prompted Malice to gesture them into stairwell and down onto the floor they were currently inhabiting. Lying there in a pile of melting ice shards lay a body, Malice had clearly stabbed in the chest before freezing it solid and smashing it with the blunt of her weapon. At first was positive that the angel had just committed homicide and was about to accost her but then she noticed the decayed face that stared back at her from within its freezing confines. "Courtesy of Wesker" she asked aloud to Chris who nodded sagely "There's no mistaking the features, it's a B.O.W." A low moan caught their attention; the first zombie had not been alone. Shuffling out from one of their neighbor's apartments came a second zombie who seemed intent on avenging the fall of its comrades. The undead's feet suddenly gain explosive speed as it lurched forward and tried to grab Malice.

With a dismissive humph she spun her weapon and froze the second one in place before dissecting it right down the middle leaving a trail of frozen skin flakes in its wake. "See, I don't need your training" Malice crowed but rolled her eyes "Now is not the time for your incessant whining. We need to figure out what's going on." "All over that lass" Rocket Raccoon piped up from his place standing on a nearby window sill "Might want to take a shifty at this, mates." Crowding around him the group watched dourly as a horde of undead uneasily trooped down the street. "It's just like the last zombie apocalypse" the CIA agent noted "I'm guessing you recognize the majority of these?" "I know all of them" Chris replied "Put more than a few shotgun rounds into the heads of each species present." He went on to give them a brief lecture on the crowd below them pointing out the different types and how best to deal with them. "These are the same types we dealt with in the first wave" noted which prompted Chris to stroke his stubbly chin "Odd, considering that the majority of the species present are mostly made up of the T-virus variant. There are Ganado present so why is Wesker limiting himself to the most primitive form of B.O.W?" The question clawed away in the back of his mind but the former S.T.A.R.S member pushed it away "We need to secure the building and its residents."

Mentally pivoting to the new task at hand began to arrange their formation "Malice, you take the lead. That weapon of yours will be the perfect spearhead." The angel merely brushed a few locks of hair from her forehead "Why bother with a formation? These things are laughably weak, only a child would be threatened by them." "They might be pathetic but they're still infectious" Chris warned her "it doesn't matter if it's a tyrant or the cannon fodder, one bite and you're a goner." "You either work with us or you sit in the apartment while we deal with this" followed up "I don't have time to hold your hand and deal with this." Gawking with rage Malice pointed the head of Skadi at the redhead "I'll be the one who'll be babysitting you Sprite, you best not forget that." The tension subsided somewhat as Malice stepped forward to the front of the corridor signaling that she would behave for now and listen to . "Rocket Raccoon, I need you to cover Malice and keep the heat off of her, she can zone well with that ax of hers but if any zombie manages to break through her guard I'll need to be able to neutralize it." Smirking, the Guardian of the Galaxy patted his weapon "Don't you worry love, these undead buggers won't even be proper targets for a pro like me." "Chris, I need you to be the second string. The minute we hit a large group I want you right next to Malice to increase our offensive power." The B.S.A.A agent nodded "I guess that means you're guarding our rear?" She nodded "My fighting style is ill suited for both our opponents as well as these tight spaces. I'm more liable to set something on fire than help out."

It began with quick sweeps of each apartment building on their floor in order to en sure there would be no zombies harassing their backs. The residents of each room were warned to lock their doors and not to come out until Chris gave the all clear. Most of them shook their heads dumbly as they stared at the sight of Malice and Rocket Raccoon "Bugger, haven't these blokes ever seen a raccoon before" the animal griped as they left a particularly awestruck family. "Focus people" snapped "Malice, keep your guard up or else you're going to get bit." "Can it you-" the angel shouted back but a quick flash of something brown and low to the ground caught her attention. Nearly caught flatfoot by the Cerberus' attack Malice shrieked as the animal slammed against her weapon using the shaft to give it just enough equilibrium to come within inches of her face. Its slavering fangs were prepared to gouge her throat out but a bullet to the head turned it into chunky salsa. Lowering his weapon Chris walked up to Malice and helped steady her

"You ok?" he asked. Her pride severely wounded Malice twisted out of his grip "Let's go" she hissed making sure her weapon was in front of her. Since they were on the top floor the rest of it was all downhill with barring the door to the stairwell each time they cleared a floor. They managed to root out a few more zombies, not many had managed to enter the building in the first place but whatever little damage they had managed to do hit everyone hard. Case in point: on the tenth floor Chris was forced to put someone down after they had been bitten. He was a young father of a three year old boy, the mother had left earlier in the day to head to work and the father had decided to chase after her with his child in tow. and Chris exchanged painful looks before they split up. The redhead grabbed the young boy and escorted him into the apartment room while Chris was forced to give the father the really bad news. "I'm…sorry" Chris said as he bent down to be eye level with the man "You've been infected." Clutching his bloody red arm the man looked imploringly at Chris. "There has to be some way" he reasoned as the tears began to flow from his eyes "Please, please tell me there's some way to cure this." Chris didn't look away, he couldn't but the words refused to organize themselves into a coherent sentence. His silence was damning "No, no, please" the man begged hysterically "I can't leave Benji alone, I want to live, please don't tell me…you can't…do…"

The man curled up into a ball "Sorry but there's nothing I can do except make this as painless as possible" Chris replied taking the safety off his Red9. The click of the gun sent the man into a frenzy, he jumped up using the power of adrenaline to push Chris away allowing him to sprint down the corridor. "No" the B.S.A.A member cried extending his hand in a futile gesture to stop the man; it nicked something soft and fleshy. With an amazing speed Malice shot down the hallway with Skadi in front of her spearing the man through the torso with one go. The man dangled a bit at the end of the ax before going limp, unnoticed by either Chris or Rocket Raccoon Skadi glowed a light sky blue as it absorbed the man's soul. 'Just in time' Malice thought smugly as the man's body disintegrated into the air 'A second longer and his soul would have been corrupted by that virus.' "What the hell do you think you're doing" Chris yelled at her "Do you realize what you just did?" Turning around Malice surveyed him coolly "What's wrong, weren't you just going to kill him anyway?" "Yeah but…" the man struggled to find the words to explain why he was making a fuss. The way she had nonchalantly killed the guy had frozen him to the core, she hadn't hesitated at all to pursue him. "Its, it's just that you…you killed him" he said stupidly which made Malice smirk "And, it had to be done and he got the better of you. You should have kept your guard up."

Chris and Rocket Raccoon gaped at her words, this wasn't about claiming a human life at all, it was some form of one-upmanship. "You're one cold bitch" Rocket Raccoon spat out "I ain't particularly fond of Earthlings either bit I'd never grass one without blinking an eye." "It was one pitiful Sprite" Malice said "In case you haven't noticed there are tons of you guys running about down below. One dying isn't going to be noticed." "It was a life you sodder, it's bloody sacred" the Guardian of the Galaxy barked at her but before they could get into a proper row forced herself between them "What the hell is going on?" she snapped "I just got the tyke to bed, you'll wake him if you keep this up." "Malice friggin murdered the dad in cold blood and she ain't even the least bit remorseful, the cheeky bitch" the animal said crossing his arms. "And?" said "If I recall correctly the man had been bitten and there was no way to stop him from turning. I thought Chris was going to finish the job anyway." "Finally, a voice of reason" the angel said brushing her bangs back "Are we going to keep moving forward or do you want to bitch and whine some more?" Turning about she continued to trek down the hall leaving to follow in her wake "Get in gear guys, we can wax sentimental once the building is secure." Fuming Rocket Raccoon turned to a sullen Chris "Can you friggin believe that, we're surrounded by bloodthirsty nutters." Clenching his fists Chris walked forward "Let's get the job done Rocket."

Even with emotions running high the team continued to do a fantastic job in destroying the rest of the zombies on floors nine through two before heading down into the lobby of the first floor. While they were pushing their way through the door the quick whiff of ozone was Chris' only warning "Get down" he shouted sprinting over Rocket Raccoon. He tackled the angel to the ground as the blade of a chainsaw ripped through the plaster door frame where Malice's head had previously been near. The Garrador roared at missing its prey bringing the lesser zombies rushing towards the group ready to feast. Jumping over Chris and Malice, began to assault the chainsaw wielding zombie while Rocket Raccoon began to plaster the zombies with death rays. Scooping the Grim angel into his arms Chris rolled away from the fighting before helping her to her feet. "Are you ok" he asked bluntly as he clicked the safety off his weapon. Bending down Malice grabbed her ax off the floor "Peachy" she remarked swinging the weapon in front of her in preparation for what was about to go down "Try and keep up with me." With a grunt she swung her weapon in a huge arc sending the lesser zombies and Hunters away from her while chilling the room with a light frost. Her second attack sliced three zombies apart as she turned to bat away a Cerberus who had used his brethren as a shield to dodge her initial attack. Before it could draw close it was knocked down by a magnum to the chest allowing the angel to impale its chest cavity with the handle of her weapon.

"I've got your back" Chris shouted as he pumped another round into a Ganado wielding a rifle "Sweep them towards the middle." Working as pairs Malice and began to corral the zombies into the middle of the lobby with Chris and Rocket Raccoon picking off the ones who were able to wiggle through the whorls of fire and frost that encompassed the area. Once the mass was contained as tightly as they could be Malice whirled her weapon around her head, the streaks of blue were barely visible thanks to the speed at which the weapon was twirled, and with a yell she slammed the head onto the ground. Ice quickly formed into a mighty glacier that encompassed the undead horde and with a laugh she struck it again making it shatter into a million shards of ice and frozen limbs. Satisfied that all the threats had been exterminated Chris began to reload his weapon "I can't believe how fast they were able to saturate the city." "There are too many of them for only one factory to reproduce and distribute." commented as she adjusted her sleeves, Rocket Raccoon had managed to give them a rough patch job after her fight with the mystery ninja "Wesker probably has multiple factories churning these guys out. The question is, what should we focus on? We could go after Wesker and cut off the head of the snake or we could go about shutting down wherever these things are spawning from." "Neither of those sound too keen to me lass" Rocket Raccoon piped up "This Wesker chap could be anywhere, these blasted zombies reek awful fierce. Me nose couldn't even find a bottle of perfume in the midst of these blighters. On the other hand, we ain't a clue where the hell the source is. We could be kipping around for weeks if our only goal is to do a quick check of the city itself."

Chris mulled over both options "We don't have enough firepower for either of those options. We're limited in resources and options." "So what do you suppose we do?" asked glancing out the window at the shambling horde outside. "I hate to say this but it might be best to hunker down and wait to see what happens" there was serious defeat lacing Chris' voice but the B.S.A.A member was not about to go off on a suicide run with his companions in tow "Let's board up the doors and get everyone in the building organized." A sudden shriek caught their attention, it was muffled by the floors and walls but the pitch was high enough for everyone to hear it clearly. "Crap, did we miss some" asked "Let's go." Before they could take a step there was a pounding on the double glass doors, the zombies had realized that there was food in reach and had begun to try and gain access to the building. "Damn" Chris breathed as his mind raced for a plan " and Rocket, you guys stay here and fend them off, whenever you're finished start barricading us in. Malice, you're with me." The pair dashed off up the stairs while eyed the doors critically "Do you think they'll hold?" "Against them? Maybe for a bit, but if any of the stronger ones decide to join the party we'll be buggered." Rocket replied before changing the setting on his blaster "Go and find summat to board up these windows, I'll keep them busy."

The CIA agent nodded before disappearing down an adjoining hallway. Logically some material might be found in the janitor's closet but if the building super attendant kept some materials on hand to do maintenance work that would be even better. Her eyes quickly scanning the doors she found one marked 'cleaning supplies' and busted it down with a kick. Several shelves of cleaning chemicals lay lined up against the walls with a bucket of rags on either side of the door. There was a vacuum cleaner in one corner and bucket with wheels for mopping on the other. Beside a small shelf filled with light bulbs was a ladder which grabbed. She also noted some mopes with metal handles in another part of the room and resolved to grab them on her return trip. When she reentered the hall she found Rocket Raccoon firing furiously into the crowd of zombies who had managed to shatter the glass doors. They groaned as they entered the foyer, their feet slimy with the molten goops some of their comrades had been reduced to thanks to the Guardian of the Galaxy. "Switch off" called out as she placed the ladder down onto the ground with one hand and aimed a kick with another. A quick volley of flame cleared the crowd long enough for the creature to scurry through. "Is this all ya got" he exclaimed looking at the ladder "Ain't there some sort of shield for these things? I was under the impression you Earthling lot had a contingency plan for this sort of zombie apocalypse event right here?" his words fell on deaf ears; was too busy trying to keep the zombies back to listen to his lamentations. "Bloody humans" he swore under his breath before examining the ladder, it was by no means perfect but with a little ingenuity he might be able to come up with a temporary buffer or something.

Readjusting the laser he began to manipulate the metal as gently as he could by softening up the joints. Once its shape had been eliminated Rocket focused on widening as far as it could go without losing most of the metal's sturdiness before ducking into the back. A laser to the door gained him excess into one of the first floor apartments where a couple lay huddled in the living room. Hysterical at the sight of him they began to wail about how they were too young and in love to die. "For the love of the stars" Rocket swore before ignoring them and heading into their kitchen. Grabbing a bucket from underneath the sink he filled it up with cold water then lugged it back to the foyer. The metal hissed as the cold water hardened its shape and it took a few more before the brace could be touched without burning one's hands off. "Good on ya lass, the door brace is ready" he called out to his redheaded companion. With a grunt gave a massive kick which spurted a jet of flames into the crowd of zombies "When I give the signal place the brace up against the door and hold it there." With alternating kicks she drove the horde back across the threshold using her flames to control their retreat before giving one final push that sent them a few feet away from the door. Gesturing wildly to Rocket  
Raccoon the pair pushed the newly formed door brace up against the doorway before melting it to the wall with lasers and flames.

Once it was secure they stepped back in order to test its resilience. The metal held as a swell of cannon fodder leaned against the restraint trying to get a hold of some tasty flesh with grasping hands stuck between gaps. "We need to reinforce it" Rocket Raccoon commented as he eyed them "I'm on it" replied as she returned to the janitor's room for those mops she had seen. While their metal wasn't as pure and sturdy as the ladder they could be welded to the brace as well as the door to give it some more endurance. Once they were done Rocket Raccoon mopped his brow "Thank the stars, looks like that'll do it for now." "I wouldn't be too sure" his partner warned him as a flask of something scaly caught her attention. It was one of the zombie mutants, a Hunter, pushing its way forward in front of the pack using its incredible strength to force its lesser brethren out of the way. With a halfhearted tap it made the brace shudder madly while a small dent appeared on the back of it. "Oh no you don't" Rocket Raccoon exclaimed as he jumped up to the top of the brace. Aiming down he caught the Hunter mid swing with a laser to the head which disintegrated it entirely. "More on the way" called out as she watched a pack of them rush around the corridor as they followed the moans of excitement from the cannon fodder. "We need to get something stronger if we're going to keep these buggers out" Rocket Raccoon said as he fired more lasers into the crowd "Hurry up and find some more materials."

The janitor's closet had been cleared out of anything that could have helped prop the door shut so continued to hunt around the building. Unfortunately for her it seemed that the entire ground floor was devoid of anything that could constitute for a material that could help the brace withstand the punches of the hunters. By talking to the residents the CIA agent managed to gather up so more steel items that might be able to reinforce the brace even more. With a small gaggle of residents behind her returned to the lobby. Rocket had successfully repelled the hunters but not without them leaving their door brace considerably less secure than before. A frantic zombie manage to press its way inside the building thanks to one of the gaps on the side of brace, it had to sheer off most of its rotting skin to do so but it managed to get through just the same. More bony than corpse-like the zombie rushed towards the horrified residents but a punch from the redhead turned its brain into mush. Without a word the group fixed the brace, making it better in the process, but it was still vulnerable to hunters and their ilk. "Ain't there anything else" Rocket Raccoon asked as he finished welding the upper corners of the brace "I'm open to suggestions here." Frowning shrugged "That's your department; you seem to be handy with patch jobs." Frustrated, the creature ran a claw through his short hair "Ok, ok, ok, give me a bit to peruse the old noggin."

Pouting Rocket Raccoon approached the problem; there was no way to procure a metal hard enough to withstand the Hunters' punches, even if there were the loss of purity thanks to being hastily melted into shape by his laser could compromise the sturdiness. Did they need a metal at all? Something clicked into place and an idea began to form in Rocket Raccoon' mind "Be back before you can say hooroo" he assured them before scampering over to the janitor's closet. Grabbing a nearby bucket he began to pour an assortment of chemicals into it until a acidic smell began to coat the air around them. "A few more drops of these, a cup of this and, God save the queen, we done it." He said to himself as he stirred the liquid with a broken shaft from a wooden broom. "Alright, this part's done, now for the gamble." Running back into the lobby he instructed the residents "Go grab whatever rubber trinket you own, shoes, toys, bands, hell even some rubbers themselves if you have some in your bedside table." The group dutifully fulfilled his request and soon a sizeable amount of rubber paraphernalia lay strewn around the Guardian of the Galaxy. Grabbing handfuls at a time he dumped them into his bucket of chemicals as fast as they could so the mess wouldn't coagulate too quickly. Once he was done he had a near solid mass of beige goo in his bucket which he kept from solidifying with his laser which was set to its lowest temperature level.

"Alright Red, give me a boost up there and careful not to touch the merchandise if you know what I mean" he said with a wink. Ignoring his perverted remark propped him up on the highest ledge of brace along with the bucket. With sweeping arcs Rocket covered the entire brace with his chemical mixture allowing the substance to seep into every crevice. Using the last few drops to form a gooey ball on the poles holding it up he hopped off and admired his handy work. "What the hell is that supposed to do" his companion asked critically "what was that you made anyway, some sort of alien serum?" "I believe you Earthlings call it glue" he replied pointing out the door "Here comes the field test." Lumbering forward a huge Hunter sidled up to the door; clearly the mutation in this one had been erratic. With a gargled yell it lifted one fist and smashed the brace into bits with one blow. Instead of giving way, however, the brace sank back a few inches and held firm. The glue Rocket Raccoon had whipped up had become a thick, gooey, film that kept the door in place. A few more blows merely proved it was going to be impossible to muscle through with just strength alone. Relieved at their impeding salvation the residents whooped with joy but the pair had no time to spare to join in the celebration. Together they dashed upstairs hoping that whoever had been screaming had not done so out of mortal terror.

Unfortunately for Chris and Malice the person had been screaming out of mortal terror, the higher they climbed the louder and more frantic it sounded. On the eighth floor they found several of the doors had been torn off their hinges and several corpses were bleeding to death thanks to the large bite marks that had ripped the flesh off their bodies. Conscious of the infection Chris was forced to blow a hole into each of their heads to insure that none of them would rise again. They progressed slowly down the hall, Chris out front with Malice bringing up the rear. 'What kinda B.O.W is this' Chris asked himself as he stepped around a corpse whose head had been bitten off like a head of asparagus 'This doesn't look like the wounds of any that I've fought before.' This thought made a small blossom of panic awaken in his heart, fighting B. was heavily dependent on the information that others had collected. Attacks, defenses, what sort of ammo worked best, all these tidbits was what kept a B.S.A.A member like him alive every time he stepped into a situation like this. As they approached the stairs to the ninth floor the scream came again, whoever it was had taken shelter inside the recesses of the stairwell. Dutifully Malice stepped forward only to be brushed back behind Chris making her quirk an eyebrow. "I thought I was on point" she whispered to him. "I don't know what kinda of B.O.W this is" Chris replied "I'm taking the lead from here on out, I've got more experience fighting against them."

Taking a deep breath Chris readied himself mentally before straightening up and sending the door crashing against the wall with a mighty kick. His hand swiveled back and forth as he tried to get a bead on whoever was screaming, he didn't have to look hard. They had been mistaken when they thought a resident of the apartments had been screaming, perhaps this thing used that empathy to draw would be rescuers to their doom. It stood stagger stepped on the stairs with a corpse in its hand, it turned its face to them causing Malice to grimace and Chris to swear. The beast was easily nine feet high, its head nearly smacking up against the underbelly of the stairs that lead up to a higher floor. It had the head of a horse, the body of a man devoid of genitals, with powerful looking legs, one of which ended in a cloven foot. The skin was a mottled grey with networks of veins visible to an onlooker; it was hairless save the mane which was made up of squirming leeches that covered its head in a mohawk. Its eyes were milky white but from the way it looked at them it was able to see them several feet away. The nostrils flared with each bite as its sharp teeth, the size of nine inch nails, tore into the flesh of its newly deceased victim whose neck had been snapped by its powerful hands.

Discarding its meal it gave a gargled neigh before it began to approach them with one hand outstretched. The moment of sick fascination left with a snap giving Chris the sense of mind to fire his weapon into the chest cavity. The bullets punctured through the skin like tissue paper before exiting the other side and ricocheting off the wall but no blood seeped out of the wound. The impact made it pause for a split second before it resumed its pace towards them, unflinching even as more tore through it. Malice stepped forward to engage it in melee but Chris stopped her with his arm "We need to retreat for now" he instructed her as he ducked out of the door. The pair dashed through the halls but the beast was hot on their tails, along with having a horse head this breed of B.O.W was capable of reaching the speed of a racing stallion. With one swoop it grabbed Chris and hoisted the man into the air without breaking stride. His free hand tried to grab Malice's wings but with a pivot the angel turned and chopped the appendage off. As it bounced away, the fingers still wiggling in anticipation, Malice cut the hand holding her companion off as well leaving the B.O.W standing there groaning at the pain. She lifted the grip of her weapon ready to behead it when the horse creature hunkered forward and charged her. Blasted back a few feet Malice used her wings to regain her footing but before she could move the creature had tackled her again.

Skadi's heft proved to be detrimental as it prevented her from striking back, every time she tried to swing her weapon the beast would merely rush inside her attack and force her back. Eventually the pair drew very close to the wall of the corridor and with a grimace Malice realized the beast was going to try and pin her against the wall. As she tried to knock it off its guard the horse B.O.W's teeth began to rub against each other in preparation to devour yet again producing the worst grating sound Malice had ever heard. Right before it was about to pin her shots broke out in the corridor, Chris had finally caught up with them and turned the B.O.W's head into bloody stump. With a crash the creature fell down giving Malice a chance to relax her guard "I was under the impression these zombies were considerably less dangerous then you gave them credit for." "This one's new, if it is a B.O.W" Chris conceded "Let's hope there aren't too many of these roaming about." Malice brushed the bangs from her eyes "I would hardly call that a challenge." She jinxed them both, the body of the fallen bio weapon began to heave wildly and with a demonic neigh another creature appeared from its swollen abdomen followed by an identical second one. These creatures were miniature replicas of the horse B.O.W standing a mere four feet in height instead of nine. Clothed in the guts of their progenitor they chose Chris as their target. With a leap one jumped into the air while the other kept low on all fours, their subsequent charges knocked Chris onto the ground.

The impact jarred his weapon loose and while one of the twins kept Malice busy the other ran over and grabbed the gun with its hands. In perfect sync they swapped targets, the one distracting Malice jumped back to stomp Chris while he was rising off the ground while the other took aim at the angel. Quickly Malice tapped the ground with Skadi and brought up a small ice wall which kept the bullets from reaching her for a few seconds. Eyeing Chris' situation with a glance Malice gave a few swings sending the temperature plummeting down several degrees Fahrenheit before giving one gigantic arc that solidified the air in front of her right as her frosty cover shattered under the barrage of bullets. With a yell she sent the projectile hurtling towards the mini B.O.W, the bullets it fired in her direction bounced off of it, protecting the angel from harm, while also killing her attacker. The gun flew away from its shattered grip spinning on the ground towards Chris who was fighting desperately to keep the zombie from sinking its knife like teeth into his head. Giving it a quick jab to the middle Chris used the small window of recovery to grab his weapon and shoot the horse B.O.W in the head. Throwing the corpse off of him he gestured to Malice "Freeze them." She complied and not a moment too soon, the corpses of both were beginning to twitch as more of their kind began to gnaw through the stomach lining.

With a flourish Malice caged them within blocks of ice effectively trapping them within the corpses "It's like one of those damn Russian dolls, there are more with each layer you pull off." Chris commented. "Do you think there's more?" Malice asked gesturing to the ice prisons "I sure as hell hope not, my ass would be grass if it wasn't for you" he said "Let's get back to the lobby, hopefully and Rocket Raccoon haven't encountered these bastards yet." The group reconvened inside their apartment to discuss what the plan was. " Hate to say this mates but this place is done for" Rocket Raccoon said as he checked his laser pistol for mechanical problems "Ain't no way that brace of mine can hold up forever and we'll be sitting here defenseless when the dam does break. Let' cut on out of here." "To where exactly" asked "The whole city look like it's been overrun with zombies." "Right now it would be best to follow our previous plan and stay put." Chris said "We've got enough provisions for the time being and we can take turns guarding the doorway." Inaction was very unpopular with everyone present but unable to come up with a plan that had no glaring flaws the others acquiesced.

The next few hours were spent organizing supplies and informing the residents of what was going down. They were too terrified of the monsters circling their block to argue, most of them returned to their rooms, pulled the blinds shut and tried to drown out the terror by watching T.V. Taking stock of his situation Chris found himself anxious over the number of bullets he had left. Without a chance to buy more he was quickly going to run out leaving him at a fraction of his fighting strength. As he went about cleaning his assortment of guns he noted Malice heading upstairs, probably to escape the gaping entourage of awestruck residents who were in disbelief that there was an angel living in their building. "Be careful" he called out to her as she began to climb the stairwell, she didn't reply. At the top of the stairs she opened the roof top door letting the stiff and slightly rotted wind escape into the concrete enclave. Skadi was in her hands, not at the ready but her knuckles were white as she gripped it. Stopping at the middle of the rooftop she craned her neck upwards, the sky was a cheerful blue despite the atrocities being committed underneath it. The small ruffle of robes caught her attention and she whipped around to scream at whoever had come to interrupt her peace. Her scowl turned into a gasp as she realized who was standing before her, it was Master Hector!

"How fare thee my servant" he asked her in a low and solemn voice "Why hast thou strayed from Asgard into this godsforsaken world?" "I-I, uh...um, that is" she stammered before realizing she was still standing upright on her feet in front of one of the Magi. Sinking to her knees she repressed a shudder of terror, he had caught her completely unaware and with no souls to proffer. "Why hast thou abandon thine duties to me" it reprimanded her "Malice, why art thou here?" "I-I-I don't know m-milord" she replied in a shaky voice "Please understand, I am not her of my will. Some malevolent force has stolen me from you side and kept me from my duties." "Thou expects me to believe the forces of Utgard have pilfered thee away from thine duties via the means of some cosmic magic that can slip through the omnipotence of the Magi?" "I would not lie to you milord, please believe my story, insane as it sounds." She pleaded with him; she fully expected to be punished for her negligence. The Magi opened his mouth once more, it was here that Malice realized that he was not actually with her physically but using a projector spell as he typically did to contact her when she was in the Promised Land.

With his mouth brimming with static he suddenly looked around "Fascinating, why dost I sense such a large quantity of Sprites in the area where I hath contacted you?" Malice's head jerked upward "While my person was snatched away from the hall of the gods whoever the thief was found it fit to dump me here in this world. This place is filled with Sprites, more so than the Promised Land. They must crawl over one another to travel because of the vast populace that lives upon this earth." He regarded her sharply "The gods themselves must recognize my worthiness as their successor if thou speaks the truth. Show me the souls that thou hast gathered so I might test their potency." At this Malice blushed "F-forgive me my lord but I had not the time to harvest. I was too busy trying to return to your side so that I might serve you once again." Hector was not pleased, his face didn't reveal it, but he was not pleased at all. "Foolish servant, thou hast been dropped into the horn of plenty and thou chooses to bandy about like wastrel instead of doing thy divinely appointed duties? A farmer is a fool if he sits upon his thumbs and le the fine wheat weaken and wither before his eyes. Take up thy ax and fulfill the duty your master has set thine hand to." Nodding her head wildly Malice lifted her voice in supplication "Do not be angered with me Master Hector, I shall do thy will and before the stars illumine the night sky I will return to this place with a windfall."

"So be it" Hector said "Recall, Malice, that thou hast no future, no hope save for me. I am thine future and to me you will heed all commandments that flow from my lips. So spake Hector of the Seven Magi." With a small "blip" the projection faded into the ether leaving Malice kneeling there drenched in a cold sweat. She had deserved the dressing down, in all honesty she had gotten off rather easily, but did he have to remind her of the price she paid for her diviner so tersely? Taking a moment to recollect herself Malice stood back up and looked at the door that would lead her back down to the apartment below. The weight of Master Hector's words weighed upon her like a boulder and she gave a small, tentative step towards the door. The easiest way to exonerate herself in front of her master would be to claim as many souls as she could, an amount so large that it would boggle his mind. The residents of the apartment numbered within one hundred, give or take a score, easily comparable to a large enclave of Sprites. It would give her a great head start, one she so desperately needed if she was going to gain her master's forgiveness but… Malice balked slightly, Chris Redfield and the other two would no doubt take umbrage with her soul collection. If spearing a man who was already condemned to a life of un-death upset Chris Redfield then surely harvesting the rest of the tenants would provoke some sort of extreme reaction, most likely one of violence.

When they raised their weapons to face her she would have no choice to cut them down and harvest them as well. This thought both confused and irked her; surely they would understand the necessity of fulfilling her divine duties? Something in her gut told her they wouldn't, she would have to reap them all or come away with not a soul more to her name. Malice grew angry, why was she excluding them from the Sprites below? All of them were worms to her, cattle whose destiny was to refuel the light of divinity. Even if they had fed and sheltered her Chris Redfield and the others did not deserve to be spared, and yet Malice found herself frozen to the spot. Curiously she could not picture herself killing them, no matter how she tried to imagine their deaths they would not come to her leaving her mind blank. In the midst of this internal turmoil a ribbon of reasoning divided her thoughts into an organized pattern. While she was trapped in this world she would need lodging and by killing them she would hinder her ability to collect souls. Clearly long term benefits outweighed the meager reward of a short harvest. Naturally she couldn't reap anyone who lived in the apartment below or else she would arouse suspicion, all this should be carried out in secret.

Satisfied with the solution that had presented itself to her Malice opened her wings to their zenith and caught the dead breeze that staggered its way through the air. Circling around the building for a while she glanced down at the streets below, she imagined that this was what Utgard looked like. Some of the smarter zombies had overturned the vehicles lining the streets and set fire to them to prevent anyone from accessing a quick means out of the city. From her position far above the ground the streets looked like a polluted river, a stream of brownish green undulating up and down the banks, as the sheer density of zombies combed the streets for anyone left to eat. Grimacing as an updraft sent a puff of rotting stench into her face Malice climbed higher and took off to the north. She flew for quite a while; the farther she was from Chris Redfield and the others the easier it would be to hide her activities from them. After an hour she alighted upon a building that looked similar to the one she had left, Sprites had no sense for creativity, and smashed her ax into the door to the stair well. That familiar feeling of ice flowed up her veins, frigid but pulse pounding. A small smile slashed its way onto her face; it felt like it had been years since she had done this when in reality it had been three months at the most. Within the next two hours all the occupants inside the apartment were picked off one by one, hunted down by an angel of vengeance with frost for eyes.

While this massacre was going on one of the residents had managed to flag the attention of the people living in the apartment next door. Confused by their exaggerated hand gestures the neighbors tried to call the lobby to understand what the hell the guy was trying to tell them, had a zombie broken into their apartment? To their horror the man was cut down right before their very eyes by something blue, his face contorted into a mask of pain before the entire body went gray and dispersed into the wind like ash. By sheer luck those who were witnessing this atrocity managed to duck away from the window instead of standing there in awe of what just happened. Malice swept by without sparing any more than a glance outside, she assumed her prey was going to try and jump to his death thirteen stories up to deprive her of souls. As she retreated further inside to continue her harvesting activities one of the neighbors peeked out the window and managed to get see her black wings.

The residents called a meeting where they discussed what actions they should take, it was unanimously decided that trying to contact the Avengers would be prudent. In a stroke of ignorant luck they had the number on speed dial but it was not Stark's number, the resident had entered Captain America's number which had been given to him by the hero during a bomb scare he had walked in on. It took a while to get a hold of the star spangled hero; no doubt countless other New Yorkers were furiously pounding away at the number in order to summon Captain America to save them. After a breathless hour and a half the voicemail message failed to come on and instead the courage inspiring baritone of Cap surged through the receiver. "What's the emergency" the hero asked, cutting through the pleasantries. "There's something in the apartment next door" the man replied with an edge of terror lacing his voice "It killed all one of the residents right before our eyes, it might have slaughtered everyone inside the building as well. You got to help us, please, please." "Calm down" Cap said "Are all the residents safely out of sight?" "Yes, we've locked ourselves in the apartment's basement" the resident replied looking around the room, it was a sizeable laundry room but it wasn't big enough to comfortably fit everyone who was taking shelter from the demon next door.

"Stay put and barricade the door as best as you can, we're on our way" Cap instructed them before clicking off his phone "Hurry and clean the trash up, we've got a psycho on the loose taking advantage of the situation." As he pressed a button on his phone to zero in on where the call had originated from Hulk used pieces of the sidewalk to pen the mass of zombies they were fighting close enough for Thor to fry them with lightning. The stragglers we're dealt with before Captain America had managed to look up to measure their progress. "By the souls of Niflheim these beasts are mere flies to I but so numerous in quantity." Thor commented wiping the sweat from his brow "How fare thee Hulk, hast thou succumbed to such toothy maws?" "Not-dead men try bite Hulk" the rage monster grumbled back "Tickled Hulk little but then Hulk smash not-dead heads. They stop." "Try to keep them from nibbling too much" Cap warned "We've seen what happens to those that get bit and I'd hate to try and take down a zombie version of you." The pair nodded before Thor grabbed Cap's arm with one hand then spun Mjollinir in the air for a sec before tossing it and holding onto the strap. They were followed in their flight to the north by the Hulk who quickly gained enough momentum to make the earth shattering hops he needed to keep up with them.

They arrived at the apartment complex which was crawling with zombies; hopefully the distressed residents had not succumbed to undeath. Quickly clearing them out Cap found the stairs down to the basement and rapped on the door as hard as he can "It's the Avengers" he called out in the loudest, most authoritative voice he had. After a few nerve wracking minutes the door squeaked open and a thin young man gave a sigh of relief "Oh thank Broadway you're here." Cap disappeared down below with the man so he could gather witness testimony leaving his two superhero buds outside to their own devices. With the streets bereft of undead menace Thor took the liberty of sitting down on the sidewalk. They had been fighting since early dawn with no discernible end in sight, so far this had been nothing to the god of thunder but a seasoned warrior knew the value of a quick break in the midst of battle. His breath passed through partially dried airways, he was thirsty. Picking himself back up he wandered over to the neighboring apartment complex, he could see the neon sheen of one of those automata the mortals used to sell sugared beverages. Thor never carried money on him; a god had no need of currency. While it was not the grog he so loved back within Valhalla's halls the unhealthy brew was both cold and quaffable and he had drunk worse things before. As he was considering how wrecking the automata would look on his superhero resume he sensed it, the presence of Asgard. Looking around he half expected to see his half-brother Loki with that damned smile etched onto his features as he taunted his elder brother but the horned trickster did not show.

Stepping backwards he noted how sharply the aura declined to the point where several feet back he could not sense it anymore. Walking back to where he had been before he took several more steps forward, with each the aura seemed to intensify greatly until it ebbed around him like a silk curtain. A person's aura was unmistakable, as unique as a fingerprint. Within seconds Thor crossed out everyone in Asgard he knew, he had lived among them for centuries and knew their auras better than the etchings in Mjollinir. That made no sense, how could someone from Asgard be here and yet be a total unknown to the thunder god? Wracking his brain the blond looked up at the sky with a frown on his face, if the Bifrost were open he could easily have returned to Asgard post haste and made an official inquiry with his father. Sadly that option was not open to him, the prince was on his own if he were going to figure this out and thinking had never been one of his strong suits. As he pondered over the possibility of it being Loki disguising his presence in some way Cap returned to the street with a grimace on his face. "The residents saw something with wings moving about the apartment killing people" he explained "They can't even say it was a person but whatever it is it had something shiny and blue that it used to strike people down." This information did nothing to help Thor's pondering, there was nothing overtly shiny and blue that popped out at him as he thought about Asgard but it was conceivable that this Asgardian had a dwarf forged weapon that could match the description.

"You seem troubled" Cap said noting the look of deep concentration of the thunder god's face "Have any idea who this might be?" "I sense the presence of Asgard within that building" he replied stroking his chin "Yet the god in general eludes my knowledge for their aura is alien to my ken. If it is indeed an Asgardian who purged the mortals within this building then I command you to proceed with utmost caution." Spearheading their assault the thunder god charged in first making as much noise as he could to draw the intruder out while his companions followed at a safe distance behind. Their caution proved to be unnecessary; the floors were devoid of any intruders. In fact they were devoid of anything, there was not one corpse to be seen nor any zombies needing to be purged which would clue them in on the fate of the demised. Standing in one of the rooms on a high floor Thor looked around quizzically, the aura had been fading over time but the Asgardian could not have been left long ago. "Hulk no like here" the green giant complained "Dust makes Hulk sneeze." Dust? Thor looked down; in his rush he had not noticed the large amount of dust that was coating the floor sending up small whorls of gray grit with each step they took. Frowning he knelt down and palmed the dust in his hand noting the size of the grains and the color. "A pox on whoever did this foul deed" he growled as he stood back up.

"Their vacuum might have been broken" Cap joked. "Nay, tis not the source of human negligence but one of a dark power" Thor replied "These mortals souls were ripped from their bodies leaving only the helpless flesh to degenerate. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Blanching Captain America looked about the dust coated room "What do we do now? You said you sensed an Asgardian, did they do this?" Thor nodded "Most likely, but fortune smiles grimly upon us, their aura hangs in the air like crumbs on a snow covered path. We shall hunt down this marauder post haste before they can strike again." With a whirl of Mjollinir he broke through the side of the building before jetting off into the sky leaving Cap and Hulk rushing after his back. As he flew Thor could hear the vows he had made a decade and a half back when he had sworn to his father to protect Midgard from those who would take advantage of its beauty and people for selfish gain. Aside from the blood pounding in his ears and the rush of wind that jostled the long strands of golden locks Thor was able to meditate on the upcoming battle ahead. He pitied the god who thought to drop into the world that was under his ward and deprive the humans he had come to love of their souls. They should begin to pray, pray to whatever god, force or hellspawn they worshipped for mercy for the god of thunder would show them none.


	16. Yoink!

Chapter 16: Yoink!

English is in normal font

_Japanese is n Italics_

Off-handedly Tron Bonne swiveled her face down to her armpits and took a quick sniff, she had gotten too caught up in breaking open the memory stick housing Mega Man to remember to do such trivial things like bathe or updating the Servbots with virus protection. Satisfied she wasn't too ripe just yet she continued hacking into the data field, her fingers a blur as they tried to extract the pest. She had rented a large warehouse in the industrial district using a fake credit card which siphoned money from some corporation called Stark Industries, as long as she didn't pull too much money at one time she would be untraceable. Here she housed her Servbots, the four Sentinels she had hijacked from Trask Industries as well as her workspace that had allowed her to make a fake pass to sneak into the hospital where the memory stick had been. The room was covered in wires that were several arm-lengths thick and a variety of muted colors. They all hooked up into a huge computer system in the middle of the room, a super computer with an attaching data transference device to be exact. While Tron sat at the computer module her four Sentinels, who she called Servtinels Omega, Alpha, Zeta, and Joanne respectively, had circled her in all four cardinal directions.

They sat on their haunches with their knees curled up close to their faces while their fingers drummed the air in front of them. They were typing on transparent keyboards as well, almost in sync with their master. In an effort to erase their connections to Trask she had replaced their hideous heads with much more suitable Servbot heads that had been designed to fit on their massive shoulders. "Firewall 14A3B50 down" Omega announced "Core had been located, awaiting destabilization of others." While Mega Man had hidden himself away in a memory stick for some mysterious reason, he had the foresight to build some very powerful firewalls to protect himself. It had taken many days but the layers were beginning to peel away as Tron's group found ways to divert around them. The Sentinel's evolving algorithm came in handy during the process; they found ways to disable the walls by merely interacting with them. The three other Servtinels called out their success at taking down the remaining firewalls which left one last wall that Tron was on the verge of tearing apart. With a smirk she typed in the last paragraph of code she needed and watched with satisfaction as she was cleared to access the memory stick.

With a few more keystrokes she placed data representing Mega Man within the icon for the data transference device and started uploading. The device began to whirl as the Blue Bomber's code was changed from digital to organic, a miracle of future tech. with a cheer Tron vaulted out of her chair "Success!" she screamed "Cue the music!" Servbot 36 whacked a button on an old boom box which began to lay down a funky beat that pulsed through the air. Servbot 14 jumped down from the roof, snagging a disco ball as he plummeted, while Servbot 22 shot a beam of light at the ceiling while turning down the warehouse lights. Soon the entire building had become some sort of rave with Sevbots dancing everywhere as their leader celebrated her approaching victory over Mega Man as well as his subsequent humiliation at her hands. Even the Servtinels got in on the action by rocking back and forth while doing jazz hands causing the earth to tremble below them. No one was keeping an eye on the data transference device; if they had they might have noticed that the body that emerged was colored burgundy and not electric blue. The machine dinged and Zero stepped forward confused at exactly what was taking place in front of him. He had assumed that Chun Li had successfully placed him inside Stark's computer but he had not thought it would be so…chaotic. At the sound of the ding Tron vaulted into the air until she landed on top of a pyramid of Servbots, not unlike a cheerleader would, and turned to face the Blue Bomber. "Behold your beautiful captor, the phantom thief Tron Bonne" she proclaimed pointing at him "I'm going to make you pay- Wait, what?"

"This is not Stark's personal computer" Zero commented to himself looking around "Why was my data transferred here instead?" He glanced at the machine he had teleported from "This device transmits data into organic flesh, was I subject to such a transformation?" Before his thoughts could stray elsewhere a harsh shriek pierced his ear drums "Who the hell are you?" He turned to confront the young girl who was standing on top of several yellow dolls. "You're not Mega Man" she screeched as she stomped her foot onto the tip of her pyramid in a rage. That proved to be unwise as this threw the Servbots balance off kilter and sent them crashing to the floor along with Tron. Groaning, the thief picked herself off the floor "Where the hell is Mega Man, he was on that memory disk we just popped open." "You were the one who unlocked my data field" he asked mostly to himself "So I am still trapped in this world, how unfortunate." He glanced about "Where is User Li at? I was confident that she would be competent enough to successfully upload me into Stark's computer."

"Hey you, not-Mega Man, where the hell is Mega Man" the girl shouted as she clambered onto her feet "I want Mega Man." Searching his internal servers Zero did remember someone called Mega Man, a blue clad cyber defender like himself, a bit naïve but very devoted all the same. "I am not aware of where Mega Man could be" Zero remarked "He is on a different server than mine, unless you are talking about Mega Man X who is closer to my home server but you would have to enter the MotherBoard to access that area." "Listen, you…you…you…not-Mega Man, I want one thing and one thing only, Mega Man" Tron started stalking forward till her finger was jutting into Zero's face "Tell me if he's here or else." "I am not sure why you want Mega Man but I can assure you he is not here, if he were I would have detected his cyber signal already." Zero replied calmly "There is no Mega Man here, only Zero." His words had a brief effect on the girl, her mouth slacked and her eyes began to shimmer with tears. "There is no Mega Man here" she parroted quietly making Zero nod "Affirmative." Her voice was so quiet that even with his heightened hearing range Zero couldn't make out what she was saying "What" he asked her innocently "Please speak up, are you in need of assistance, program?" "You liar" she screamed as her energy returned like a plasma shot "You filthy liar, I know he's here, he must be 'cause he's Mega Man."

Angrily she stalked back over to the computer "Omega, Alpha, Zeta, Joanne, find where ever the hell Mega Man is in this stick and pull him out at once." "I cannot fulfill that command" Alpha replied blandly "Analysis of this stick reveals no other data within it." "Oh come on, there must be some kind of content you can download that would make Mega Man be here" Tron pleaded but the Servtinels simply shook their heads "There is no more data." She rounded on Zero "This was all your fault, if you weren't here then Mega Man would be." "Unlikely" Zero commented "Whoever did this chose me for a reason, I know that Mega Man would be unable to fulfill my role if he were present." Still he didn't want to upset the girl any further, she could have valuable information for him so he decided to try and show her a bit of compassion. "I can change my interface to look like Mega Man" he said hitting a few buttons on his cyber gauntlet. A quick blue light washed over his body leaving behind the beloved Blue  
Bomber with his face set in an uncharacteristically somber frown "Will this be acceptable?" Even though it looked like Mega Man it sounded like Zero which just set Tron to howling once again, "No, no it's not the same, not the same at all. You're such a fraud, I hate everything, I hate this world, and most especially I hate you." Throwing her hands into the air Tron milked the great cow in the sky "Why, why did you do this to me" she asked the heavens "Have I been unworthy to you in some financial way?"

Deciding the program was far too hysterical to aid him in his quest to return home Zero released the hologram and began to walk away. His thoughts centered on User Li, why had she handed him over to this mysterious program and where was she? Had something befallen her? The warehouse had a huge set of double doors that led into the outside world. Now that his plans to return to his world had been set awry it would be best to reflect on the events that had happened so far and come up with a new plan. Perhaps he could locate that entity who had sent him over to this world and demand to be sent back? He took a few steps but suddenly the program, who had been lying on the ground throwing a tantrum, suddenly popped up onto her feet. "Where do you think you're going" she asked. "That is none of your business" Zero answered back before throwing open the doors. The wind sent in a powerful aroma that made everyone gag. "W-what the hell is that smell" Tron asked plugging her nose with her fingers. "I imagine that they are giving it off" Zero replied pointing to a mob of users outside the fence that surrounded the warehouse. Their lumbering gait and grayish skin were not symptoms of a normal disease, or at least that's what Zero's search came up with. With a huff he jumped to the top of the roof to get a better vantage point. He blanched a bit when he noticed the scores of them that roamed the streets, hopefully they weren't hostile. Tron landed with a whump next to him "Sheesh, talk about needing a bath" she remarked only to get a non-plussed look from Zero "Look who's talking." Before all-out war broke out a penetrating scream ripped through the air "Someone's in trouble" Tron said looking about for the source of the scream "Do you think it has to do with these weirdoes swarming all over?"

When she didn't get a reply Tron turned to face him, only to see he wasn't next to her anymore; he had hopped the fence and was running full tilt to the left of the warehouse. "Cheese and crackers" Tron griped before swinging her way down to the bottom floor. Ever faithful Gustaff lay parked in a small garage built next to the warehouse, the Servbots tending to him had just finished waxing him when Tron jumped into the cockpit. Pressing a button on the dashboard made a small retinue of Servbots fall out from one of the chutes cut into the wall and into a mini wagon that was attached to Gustaff's back . Flipping open a side compartment Tron noted that her laser pistol was there and ready to use before she blasted her way out of the warehouse. Behind her the Servbots began to patch up the hole in the wall she left as well as begin to fortify the defenses in case of an attack. Jumping over the fence, Gustaff bowled several Users down in his pursuit of Zero. "Stupid not-Mega Man" she grumbled beneath her breath "I do not stink." They zipped around several more warehouses for some time,and at one point Tron was sure they had lost Zero, but a nearby yowl caught her attention. Reversing direction she found herself facing the entrance to a small warehouse that had been cut to pieces, not blown off, not melted, not even crushed, but literally cut to pieces like a napkin. Hesitating, she spied a line of green neon that zipped within the dark confines of the building, Zero. Curious, Tron stepped inside and was amazed at the action going on inside. On one hand there was Zero who was dashing back and forth at a tremendous pace swinging his sword in broad horizontal strokes to clear away the number of zombies that inundated the room. There was a second figure in the room as well, a man whose back was turned towards her at the moment while he was fighting some sort of creepy creature. The monster in question walked on four legs and was a mottled brown, its brain was quite exposed on the top of its head and every now and then it would lash out with its tongue to try and skewer the stranger.

The shuffling of footsteps drew Ton's attention away from them, behind her came a wave of reinforcements. Trying her best not to retch, Tron grabbed her pistol while placing one foot on the Gustaff's dash. "Gross" she said as she shot them, they disintegrated into a pile of ashes leaving the lingering scent of rotten jerky in the air. She cleared out the wave but just as she was about to turn back to Zero the earth began to quake. "What the hell" Tron remarked but the answer soon stood in front of her, it was a large foot. The owner of said foot gave a roar and smashed the ceiling, sending metal debris and bits of glass onto the battlers before. "What is it" Tron gaped as she craned her neck to view it, it was one hell of an ugly giant with grey skin and a face only a mother could love. "If the internet search I just ran is correct that thing is a Bio Organic Weapon, quite illegal" Zero remarked walking up next to Tron "Or it could possibly be a cat meme called Grumpy Cat, it is difficult to differentiate between the two." "Fought these things before, must be those chumps' big brother or something" a voice said from the other side of Tron "You've got some explaining to do Dr. Tron." It was the rude man from the hospital a few days back. "Can it, Mr. Diaper" she shot back as she settled into her seat "Here it comes!" Raising a fist over its head it slammed it onto the ground sending a massive tear to rip through the earth. The trio scattered off into different directions, Tron jumped onto the scaffolding that surrounded the walls. Pushing Gustaff into his highest gear she swung about to the right zigzagging about the catwalk trying to find some sort of weak point to attack. Out of curiosity she shot the beast in the chest with her pistol but only a weak burn appeared on its skin, the epidermis was far too coarse and thick for her weapon to do much more.

The giant's attention was on Zero as the Maverick hunter who was using his laser sword to climb the creature. With surprising skill he dodged the fingers trying to pluck him off before leaping into the air with a somersault. "Hah" he shouted sending his laser blade deep into the giant's hand severing it completely from the wrist. The useless appendage flopped onto the ground with a thud, a scream emanated from the giant, one of rage not pain. It waved its stump about with such fervor that Zero failed to regain his position back on the elbow and the program fell to the floor with a grunt. As she watched from above Tron noticed the severed hand, it had begun to move! The skin began to bubble and ebb as a hand emerged from the wrist, then another. Within minutes the hand had degraded into a horde of zombies who began to charge right at Zero who was still sprawled out of the ground. "Watch out" Tron said as she began to pick off as many as she could with her weapon but her position was pretty shoddy so she missed more than she would have liked. Luckily for her the rude man had suddenly reappeared from the right side of the warehouse and with a roar he rent them to pieces with knives that came out of his hands. "Get up" he barked at Zero yanking the program off the ground by the arm. "Both of you, watch out" Tron yelled from up above giving them just enough time to roll to the side before a giant foot stomped down where they had been. Together they circled the ankle using their blades to sever it and send the giant crashing to the ground. Pulling the levers on Gustaff Tron sent herself over the ledge of the scaffolding and onto the giant's head "Let's see if this works" she said to herself hitting another button on the dashboard.

Gustaff's hand retreated back into his wrist while a drill took its place allowing it to begin to drill into the back of the giant's head. The skin was really hard to penetrate even though Gustaff's drill was capable of cracking open diamonds; it took several long moments for the skin to finally start to peel off in thick ribbons. While dazed the giant was not conscious and while its head was being assaulted it rollicked on the ground forcing Tron to watch her step. Below them Zero and the stranger teamed up to take down the zombies that had appeared from the severed foot. Eventually the shock wore off and with a groan the giant picked itself back up with Tron and Gustaff still attached to the back of its head. Valiantly they fought to keep drilling but their footing was poor and like Zero they were sent tumbling to the ground. Gustaff's motor whined as it activated the rockets on its back jetting him and his passenger to the safety of the scaffolding. Unfortunately she had gotten the attention of the monster and, with a yell, it sent its fist smashing down on the metal catwalk.

The metal crumpled like tin foil and the jolt flung the pair into the air. "Ms. Tron" Zero called out dashing forward but some metal debris from the scaffolding fell down blocking his path. Noting the difficulty it had in maneuvering around the room the giant paused before giving a weird keening noise. On cue a huge crowd of zombies began to shamble their way into the warehouse, Zero began to back up on reflex. "Don't just stand there, dumbass" the man barked at him as he rushed forward "We gotta stop em before he starts chowing down on em." Sadly the horde was too big for the pair to cut through before the giant managed to get his clumsy fingers around the heads of a few zombies. Chucking them into it mouth the beast had to wait a few minutes before his hand and foot regenerated. Unlike before the snack did not end with rejuvenation, a few more mouthfuls activated some level of genetic modification. The already massive giant got another height boost allowing him to lord over the warehouse like a child over a toy house. As if that wasn't bad enough it's back opened up like a split fruit allowing a tangle of tentacles to push their way from behind its spine. With a scream it beat the area around it like a petulant toddler, whipping both of its opponents about the room while destroying the rest of the warehouse. Groaning Zero picked himself up between the two beams that had fallen on either side of him just missing his arms. In front of him he watched the strange user pull himself up, he had been impaled by a sharp sheet of metal that had curled off the wall. His hands were slippery with his own blood meaning every time he managed to pull himself up a few inches his grip would slide sending him back to his starting position with a new river of blood gushing out of his tummy. "Could use a little help here" he wheezed at Zero, perhaps the sheet had also sliced through a lung?

With a frown Zero sliced through the metal before kneeling beside the user "I believe you are about to expire, I wish there was something more I can do to help you" he said. With a laughing bark the man waved him away "Go find two other people. A guy in a suit and a girl in some sort of Japanese get up. We were trying to get to safety, they better be all right, dammit." Realizing this constituted as a last request Zero stood up trying to figure out what would be proper etiquette to say in this situation. "May your data be archived" he muttered reciting the typical program death prayer when one of their own was being de-rezzed which got him a strange look from the man. "What the hell" the guy said as he began to inch his way back up the sheet "Are you going or am I going to have to do it myself?" Sighing Zero ran towards the back of the room, he hadn't seen anyone else when he had been fighting so he assumed that they had hidden in the back while the battle was going down. Glancing above him he noticed that he could no longer see the upper half of the giant, the destruction of the warehouse had sent a cloud of dust into the air obscuring it. It wasn't moving though; its feet were still like if it was standing at attention. Ignoring it for the time being Zero jumped over the rubble and climbed atop one of the walls to give him an eyeful of the rest of the warehouse, the sight made him let loose a breath he hadn't been aware he had been holding.

Tron had survived the fall; she must have landed nearby the two other people the strange User had been accompanied by. Together the three of them had survived the building collapse using Gustaff to bend some steel beams into a canopy to protect them. While Tron looked fine and the other female user looked down right delighted by the carnage going on around them the male user was clearly frightened. Walking up to his fellow program he gazed at her solemnly "Are you ok?" She said nothing choosing to just nod her head while her eyes glimmered with trepidation. "Where's the other one" she asked looking for the stranger "He has expired, we need to get out of here as fast as we can. That monster has grown too powerful for us to beat by ourselves not to mention we are now responsible for these Users safety." "Uh, yeah about these Users" Tron said "They speak some sort of funny language," "Funny language?" Zero parroted before turning to the girl "What language are you speaking?" After cycling through several transcripts he finally hit the bullseye with Japanese "_Can you understand me_?" "_Ye-yes, I knew it! See Nick, see! It is a mini Sentai_!" the girl gushed "_Hi, mini Sentai, my name's Maya and I am a huge fan_!" "_I…see_" Zero replied "_I wasn't aware that there were any Users who knew of my duties. They mostly pertain to cyberspace_." "_I've been watching you since I was a kid and was Captain of your fanclub since middle school_" she gushed "_Can I get a picture_?" "_Now is not a good time, we must escape as quickly from this place as we can_."

Maya shook her head vigorously "_No, we have to wait for Mr. Logan to come back. I thought I saw him fighting with you against that giant…thing_." "_I'm sorry to tell you this but Mr. Logan has…expired_" Zero said trying his best to sound compassionate, Users liked that didn't they? "What the hell kinda language are they speaking Zero" Tron asked beside him annoyed he was keeping her out of the loop. "Japanese" he replied switching back to English "Don't you have a language translator?" "I'm not some sort of cyber program that polices the system" Tron shot back crossing her arms "You have to a lengthy language algorithm to talk to different programs who were created by users from around the world." "_Wh-what did you s-say_" Maya piped up her voice unstable "_What do you mean Mr. Logan…expired_?"

"_I am sorry to say that Mr. Logan has…_" Zero gave quick check of his servers to insure he had the right word "_…died_." Maya stepped back in surprise "_What_?" She gaped for a bit before shaking her head "_It's fine…Let's get out of here_." "_Fine? Fine? How is this fine? How can anything be fine_?" the male user suddenly exploded pulling at his stiff hair "_Mr. Logan is dead, did his life mean nothing to you. How the hell are we supposed to get out of here, did you notice the zombies lurking outside this building_?" Maya looked a little shocked at his sudden outburst but then a small assuring smile appeared on her lips "_Aw Nick, you gotta read more manga. The hero never actually dies, he just gets sent to the spirit world for a bit before the ghosts kick him back to the living world. Plus, plus, plus, we have the mini Sentai here so as long as we stick close to him we'll be fine, plot immunity and all that jazz._" The man face palmed "_Maya, you're unbelievable_" but her little pap talk had worked to some extent, the user wasn't as irritated as he was before. "_I understand the Users propensity for idle chatter is very strong but we must cease and desist such superfluous talk until we can extricate ourselves from this situation_." Zero interrupted "_Shall we go_?" The users nodded and began to climb the rubble about them heading towards the south-west while Zero motioned to Tron "Keep an eye on our flank please; I doubt either of these Users are as capable of fighting as the expired one was." "Thank motherboard; we're finally leaving" Tron said as she finished checking up on her Servbots "Got any idea where we're heading?" "Away from here" he answered her before jumping in front of the Users and began to scout ahead.

"What about the giant" Tron called from behind him "Shouldn't we wait till he leaves?" He didn't have to respond, he pointed to behind them and that was all he really needed to do. A massive wave of zombies had begun to infect the area, no doubt looking for some flesh scraps to nibble on. The imminent threat of being devoured by them put some pep in their step and soon they were able to get clear of the wreckage. Ducking down an alleyway the quartet zigzagged towards downtown, stopping only to let Zero zap an isolated zombie allowing them to move forward unnoticed. Even as they exited the warehouse district the mountainous legs of the giant could still be easily seen above the rooftops. "Are you sure we should be heading deeper into the city" Tron asked as Zero lead them out of the warehouse district towards main street "Seems to me that the zombies are clustering tighter the further downtown we go." "We must find some sort of shelter" Zero answered back as he began to survey the buildings around them "Preferably small and easy to defend, with only the two of us capable of combat the threat of being overwhelmed is high."

A few blocks down they came found their route cut off by a massive mob of zombies that had coagulated on the streets like a blood clot effectively halting all non-undead traffic. As they retreated back a few feet Nick turned to Zero "_What are we going to do? Should we try to go around them_?" Before the program could answer there was a cacophony of howls which sent shivers down everyone's spine. "We should get out of here, now" Tron said, her voice trembling slightly from consciously repressed fear. Dashing back from where they had come from the group zigzagged through the alley trying to find somewhere to hide. Soon there was a large pack of zombie dogs on their trail growling like fiends, their decayed legs toeing the strength of the rotting muscle as they charged forward to claim their supper. Putting Gustaff on auto pilot Tron turned around and began to shoot them with her laser pistol, it picked off a few but the twists and turns they made going around corners made her aim abysmal.

As the dogs approached, close enough to smell their retched breath, Maya turned to Zero "_There, I think we can hole up in that shopping mall_." "_It would not be the most efficient place to bar ourselves in…_" Zero hesitated only to get an irritated retort from Nick "_We'll die if we don't find some sort of shelter_!" Acknowledging the logic behind that statement Zero turned and darted down the street that led to the complex with everyone else hot on his heels _"Get ready, once you're inside get away from the doors_." His laser blade retracted and his hand formed the barrel of his Buster which he set to fire in short rounds of three. The automatic doors barely had enough time to swing open before all four of them dashed into the hallway of the mall. Using his momentum Zero turned and pivoted on his feet allowing him to send a wall of plasma death at their pursuers. The dogs fell quickly but a distance behind them he could see the rest of the horde lumbering towards them, the vanguard was only half a mile away. The automatic doors shut with a whoosh and Zero sealed them with his Buster which he had put back on its default setting.

The next half hour was spent reinforcing the doors on the floor of the building; Tron's Servbots were particularly helpful in gathering materials. Together they watched as the zombie wave broke upon the walls and doors of the mall like a wave but they were not able to penetrate their way inside. Yowling at how their food was just out of reach they placed their rotting faces against the doors leering at the captives inside. Blanching Maya turned her attention elsewhere "_Do you think we're safe_" she asked as she surveyed the open corridors of the mall which were lined with stores. "_I don't know_" Zero replied "_But we need to keep our guard up at all times_." He walked towards the center of the floor which let one look down on the first floor of the mall "_Let's split up and see what supplies we can find. User Nick, you are with me. Ms. Tron, please look after User Maya_." The pairs combed the first and second floors of the mall coming across plenty of goods that would make their stay comfortable. It was still too early in the invasion for widespread looting to have broken out so the store had not been strip searched for anything that could help one survive the undead fallout.

Using his laser to carve through the metal grates that locked up a sports good store on the first floor Zero entered and froze, he did not hear User Nick behind him. The User had sat down on one of the benches in the middle of the mall next to a pond where goldfish swam about in bloated happiness. "_Something wrong_?" Zero asked noting the paleness that had crept onto the man's face. "_It's all just too much to take in_" the man commented as he stared at the floor "_First being placed in New York, dealing with Mr. Logan, losing Mr. Logan, the zombies…I just don't know how much more I can take_." Zero frowned, clearly User Nick was distressed and distress could be the forerunner of a nervous breakdown or a fit of hysteria neither of which he wanted happening. Cursing the fact that Users were so difficult to deal with Zero cleared his throat "_Being overwhelmed by our current predicament is not wise. If you dwell too much on what is happening now you will be unable to plan for the future. Our focus should be on staying alive and not how we got into this situation_." His words had the desired effect, Nick took a deep breath before nodding "_I suppose you're right but..._" he sighed again "_I wish I were more like Maya, she seems to be taking this like a champ_." "_Going with the flow would be better than moping in this situation_" Zero said pointedly "_Yet such whimsy will only blind you in the end. Do not forget that User Maya dealt with User Logan's death by denying it all together. Such an attitude is not well suited to the realities of the world, it would be better to approach this with an objective stoicism_."

"_I don't think I'm capable of that but point taken nonetheless_." The lawyer replied "_On the bright side at least this day can't get any worse_." As per status quo the universe was bent on making sure that Mr. Wright was utterly wrong about that. "_Why the hell is this foolish fool here_" the voice from his nightmares asked accompanied by the sound and pain of a lash striking his back. Yowling in pain Nick jumped up from his seat and turned around with tears streaming from his eyes "_Me and my big mouth_" he whimpered. Franziska von Karma stalked up to the pair followed by the photographer Frank West "_I will be answered Mr. Wright, why are you here, how did you get in here, who the hell is that, and where is your idiotic assistant_" she asked with the tenacity she usually reserved for a witness she grilled. "_I could ask you the same thing_" Nick replied "_Why is Mr. West here_?" Unfortunately his question brought more punishment from the prosecutor "_I am asking the questions_" she roared as she let loose a string of lashings that left the lawyer huddled on the ground. "_Nick, Nick, what wrong_" Maya called from above having heard the commotion from the second floor of the mall. Leaning over the railing she pied the group down below her "_Ew, why is Franziska here_?" "_How dare you use "ew" and "Franziska" in the same sentence, they are mutually exclusive_" Franziska screamed trying to lash Maya as well but the shrine priestess ducked back behind the railing before she could get hit.

"Why don't we all try and calm down" Frank said throwing a hand over the prosecutor's shoulder which earned him a beat down from the German. Eventually they managed to pacify Franziska long enough to gather everyone in the center of the mall for an exchanging of information. In the middle of the two ponds was a small island made of marble allowing mall visitors to watch the fish as they pondered the next store they would visit. Setting up some camping chairs from the nearby sporting goods store the group rested while eating some snacks. Their stories didn't differ greatly; both groups had awoken to the sounds of the undead attacking their living quarters and both groups had struck out to find a safer haven to weather the storm. Franziska had stumbled across Frank West in her escape and he led her to the mall where he reasoned they could bunker down for a month if need be thanks to the resources it held. They had entered the mall minutes before Nick's group and had set about preparing to fortify their position when they heard the fighting going on near the doors. _"I request that you leave immediately_" Franziska announced once their story was complete "_We got here first and with more of you here there will be a bigger strain on our food, finders keepers_."

"_Like hell we will_" Maya shot back "_You can't use elementary school grade logic against us we've got a Sentai on our side_." She gestured to Zero who frowned "_We will not leave, there is plenty of food here for all of us_." Franziska stroked her whip menacingly "_Are you sure you won't consider_." Nonchalantly Zero activated his laser blade to slice open some fruit he had gathered from one of the stores "_I will not_." Recognizing she had been bested on the contest of strength Fraziska grimaced, her lips pressing firmly in a line, before getting up and stalking off deeper into the mall. "The nerve of that woman" Tron remarked as she got up and stretched her legs "Thinking she could kick us out of here." "She ain't so bad" Frank West said in a placating way "Every rose had its thorn" "So does a durian fruit" she shot back before walking away from the group "Give me some space will ya."Evidently the need for privacy was felt by everyone; each of them filtered away leaving Nick to entertain himself by looking at fish. '_This is boring_' he thought, perhaps the real danger here wasn't the zombies but cabin fever '_I wonder what everyone else is doing_.' The first person he happened to stumble upon was Zero who had carved a circle around his feet and doing katas within it. "_Do you require something_" he asked as he spun around using his blade to slash through the stomachs of imaginary opponents. "_Not really, I'm just bored_" Nick admitted before plopping down on the ground a few steps away from the Maverick Hunter. "_So, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you_?" The program did not stop in his attacks using a feint to punch his opponent back before ending him with a blast to the face from his Buster.

"_I am Zero, a Maverick Hunter within the Theta cycle of the Unus Mundus system which contains exactly 789.675 cycles within its network. I am what you humans call a "security program" whose primary directive is to hunt down powerful viruses known as "Mavericks" and eliminate them from the cycle_." His pause went on long enough for Nick to realize he had stopped the conversation "Is that it" Nick asked hoping for something more to go on. "_It is my purpose and my life. Aside from a detailed log on what sort of Mavericks I have hunted there is little more for me to share with you_." _"Are you a robot_" Nick asked scratching his head, this had bothered him for a while now "_Your face looks fleshy but the rest of you seems metallic_." "_I am not sure_" he answered "_In the Unus Mundus I was data but when Tron pulled me from my memory stick she transformed my data into metal and flesh, it seems I am a cyborg now. For more information it would be best to consult with Tron for she is the one who had the device on her person_." A thought seemed to occur to Zero "_Perhaps now would be the optimal time to ask her about that. I must return to the Theta cycle as fast as possible in order to head off another Maverick attack_." "_Can I come, I'm really starved for some sort of entertainment here_" Nick requested getting a stiff nod from Zero.

The pair began to search for the phantom thief on the first floor; they ran into Frank West in the sporting goods store. "Hey there Mr. Wright" he greeted them with a friendly handshake "Haven't seen you since the trial, hope there are no hard feelings about that?" Zero translated this to Nick who replied "_None at all, what are you doing here_?" They were in an aisle that was filled with sporting equipment, more specifically stuff pertaining to baseball. The photographer grabbed a nearby Louisville Slugger and tested the weight and heft "Gathering some arms, don't want to be completely reliant on two children if the zombies come crashing through the walls." "I am not a child" Zero said frowning "I am a Maverick Hunter." "Of course you are kid, of course you are" Frank consoled him in a condescending way "As for why I'm here, let's just say zombies and malls are two things I've dealt with on a regular basis as of late." "_Did you hang out in a mall during the first invasion_" Nick asked "_After taking the photos of Spidey_?" Frank shook his head "Nah, this ain't Colorado; there was plenty of space to squirrel away. I took shelter in one of the theaters in Broadway, the one hosting Cats. That was definitely one of the weirder zombie invasions of my life." Nick quirked an eyebrow "_You've been in multiple zombie outbreaks before_?" Frank gave the lawyer his patented cocky grin "I've covered wars ya know, a zombie outbreak or several ain't nothing for me."

Having gone through multiple bats Frank found one he liked and grabbed as many as he could carry "If you would have told me eight years ago that I'd be a zombie apocalypse survivor specialist then I'd would have pounded ya into the pavement but here I am. Makes ya wonder what the big guy up there is thinking of, or if he just hates my guts." "_Since you're traveling with Franziska I'd definitely say it would be the latter_." Frank didn't reply right away, placing the bats under one arm he juggled with a cigarette and lighter for a bit until he could light one using one hand. Tentatively he breathed out a sheet of white smoke that dangled in front of him for a bit then wafted upward till it hit the ceiling and dispersed. "How long have you known Franny" Frank asked inquisitively. It took Nick awhile before he could figure out who the hell Frank was talking about "_Franziska? Well it's been about three years now_" Nick muttered rubbing his chin absentmindedly "_Why do you want to know_?" "Just curious s'all" the photographer replied taking another inhale of smoke before continuing the conversation "She always the one ya face in court?" Nick shook his head "_Depends, usually it's my friend Miles who acts as prosecutor or on rare occasions Godot but if Miles isn't available it's usually Franziska_." "So are you two…close…or something like that?" Nick shivered violently "_Quite the opposite, she's scares the crap out of me and I'm a sore spot for her because I sent her father to jail_." "Really" Frank said and the surprise was so evident on his face Nick couldn't help but ask "_What made you think we were…like that_?" Frank grinned "She talks about you all the time, it's always "That foolish Phoenix Wright did this" or "That foolish Phoenix Wright did that" or sometimes "When I see that damn Phoenix Wright again I'll turn his back into hamburger". It kinda makes a guy wonder what the chemistry is between the two of you."

Nick blanched "_Well she's pretty and…feisty I suppose? But I don't want to date her and I'm pretty sure she's rather strangle me than makeout with me_." "Does she have any boyfriends" Frank asked out of the blue. Flustered Nick scrambled for an answer _"How the hell am I supposed to know? We're not close, like I just told you. She's so abrasive anyway I'm sure she scares away everyone except for her brother. And Gumshoe, she spends a lot of time with Gumshoe, actually, now that I think about it they do spend a lot of time alone together_." Nick furrowed his eyebrows "_Could it really be…?_" he shook his head "_Nah, Gumshoe may be a doormat but I don't think even he could take that much abuse_." "So you're saying she's single right?" Frank asked, he had taken out of the bats from under his arm and was slowly caressing it with his thumb "What kinda of guy is this Gumshoe anyway?" It suddenly all clicked into place for Nick and he found himself torn between gaping and blushing "_You've fallen for Franziska_?" Frank laughed and leaned back "I wouldn't say I've fallen for her but I'd say that I'm interested in browsing the merchandise, savvy?" Nick shook his head in disbelief "_Clearly you haven't been around her for that long, you do know she whips everyone right, not just me_." "I like a woman with some spunk" the photographer replied which confused Nick until Zero explained it all in both languages "_Mr. West is admitting in a roundabout way that he is a masochist_."

"_I should have known_" Nick remarked which enraged Frank "I ain't no damn pansy-ass masochist" he stated stabbing his finger into Nick's chest "Just forget that I asked you, ok?" Nick stepped back "_Ah, alright, I'm sorry_." Satisfied that the lawyer was off his case Frank chilled out "Nah, it's nothing. Guess I am a little crazy if I'm thinking that Franny is alluring, guess it's just the stress of being in this situation again." He rolled his shoulder causing the bats to lightly knock against each other "Oh yeah, there was one other thing I wanted to talk to you about. What sort of weapon do ya want?" "_Weapon_" Nick said "_Why would I want that_?" "To protect yourself of course, dumbass" Frank replied "It ain't like the zombies are just going to let you go cause their worried about you slapping 'em with an assault charge" Nick rubbed his chin "_I'm not really sure, I've never been in a situation like this_." "If it were up to me I would give User Wright a ranged weapon of some kind" Zero piped up "Using a rough analysis of User Wright's body mass I compute attempting to place him in the front line would be inefficient." "S'true, bro, might want to try hitting the gym a little more" Frank said irritating Nick. But before the lawyer could snap back the photographer began to head back down the aisle "Got just the weapon you need, all I got to do is build it." He disappeared around the corner leaving the pair alone to continue their search for Tron. Unconsciously Nick did a bicep curl '_I'm not that wimpy-looking, am I_?'

Such thoughts continued to plague the attorney until they stumbled across Maya in the food court. She had their back facing them but from her posture and position at the counter it was easy to conclude she was chowing down on something. "_Hey Maya, what are you eating_" Nick asked walking up to his assistant. She turned around and beamed at him "_Nick, you're just in time to witness the creation of the best gourmet food item in the world_!" Tossing her hands up she spun around in her seat several times before reaching behind her and bringing forth the mother of all Frankenstein foodstuffs to their faces. The first thing Nick noticed was the mass of noodles coming out from the contraption, ramen noodles to be exact. That wasn't a huge surprise, Maya's favorite food was ramen, but the noodles weren't in a bowl. Instead they had been placed in the middle of two hamburger patties and were acting as one of the toppings sitting atop the burger itself along with ketchup, mayo, mustard, lettuce, and soy sauce. Maya had been crushed when she found out that ramen didn't sell all that well inside America, aside from instant ramen the noodles could not be found at any vendors. She found an incredibly odd replacement for it in the very American hamburger, perhaps the complete antithesis to ramen, since then Nick's office had become riddled with discarded burger wrappers and he was having to constantly shell out money to appease Maya's cravings.

Still, it had never occurred to him that Maya would attempt to combine her favorite foods into the unholy abomination that dangled inches from his lips. "_Uh…that's nice_" the lawyer said, scrambling for something nice to say "_So I guess you call it a ramenburger_?" Ecstatic at his alleged approval Maya nodded "_Yep, want the first bite_?" It amazed Nick that after watching a wave of undead flesh chase after him, the shriveled, flaky skin following off in scab like flakes revealing spongy bone and fraying muscle fibers, that it would take something like the ramenburger to make him want to violently retch. "_Um…no. I'm good_" he said while trying his best to keep the green blossoming onto his features to a minimal. Shrugging Maya turned to Zero "_How about you then_?" For the first time since he met the mini robot thing Nick noticed something akin to panic cross it's features "_I must decline_" the Maverick hunter replied "_My ion processors will not be able to handle the…uh…magnitude of such a foodstuff_." "_Suit yourself_" she said before retracting the abomination from their faces "Bon appetite." Voraciously she crammed the entire thing into her mouth and after a second of chewing on it her eyes lit up in delight. She mumbled something with a smile before continuing to devour the rest of the ramenburger. Neither Zero nor Nick decided to stick around for that long, both of them retreated in a hurry around the bend and retched into the first garbage can they could find.

"_I had been told by Users such as yourself that the process of eating was one of great pleasure, surpassed by nothing_" Zero remarked as he came up for air with a thin strand of puke dangling off his lips "_I see now that they were highly delusional_." "_Maya just has an iron stomach_" Nick explained leaning up against the trash can "_I guess you can consider this some sort of perverse blessing, now I won't have to worry about eating for a while_." Their appetites fully destroyed by the disgusting ramenburger the pair cleaned themselves up and continued looking for Tron. The first floor didn't yield any results so the pair took the escalators up to the second floor. Absentmindedly Zero began to wonder into one of the stores closest to where they had been dropped off unaware that Nick had stopped short behind him. The Maverick Hunter had just ignorantly wandered into a lingerie store. Blushing at the blown up pictures of sultry women in lacy things Nick debated with himself to follow the program into the store. '_If Maya were to catch me going in there she would blow her top_' he thought, wincing at the image that was present in his mind '_I should just wait here_.' Unfortunately for Nick he was unable to keep his mind out of the gutter thanks to one prominent poster of a beautiful buxom blond giving him makeout eyes. '_Well, I haven't been in an American lingerie store before; it'll be an interesting cultural experience_. He thought to himself with a blush '_Plus I need to go grab Zero and get him out of there, he's culturally ignorant of this kind of stuff. I have to save him from his faux pas_.' Satisfied that his conclusions justified his entrance Nick tiptoed into the store.

Among the bras and panties he found Zero wandering about looking for Tron "_This place is mysterious_" the program remarked as he ducked under a shelf of bras "_What purpose do these fabrics have_?" "_That's…complicated_" Nick replied suddenly feeling self-conscious _"I doubt that Tron is in here_" he noted that the bras Zero was searching through were of the D size "_Or at least she's not in this section_." He grabbed Zero and turned to leave when a feminine growl made him break out in a cold sweat. "_What do you think you are doing in this store Phoenix Wright_?" Pure shocks of fear shattered his muscles leaving Nick paralyzed on the spot, his only conscious thought was being thankful that Maya could channel the dead, it would allow him to say goodbye to everyone who had been his friend. "_Uh…uh…Franziska…I, uh, well_" he stammered "_Zero ducked in here and I knew it was inappropriate so I came to get him out_." "_A likely story_" she said pointing at him like she would in court "_Exhibition A_!" her finger dropped down to his crotch where something had risen. Blushing Nick around in abject embarrassment but before Franziska could punish him with her whip Zero cut in. "_I do not understand what is going on here, how come User Nick is not allowed in this store but you are_?" Her hand hesitated for a second before slackening a bit "_Perhaps I may have been mistaken_" she commented as she searched Zero's eyes for any sign of deception.

Realizing he was being spared the switch Nick calmed himself down and turned to face Franziska "_Actually that is a good question, why are you here_?" The words were past his lips before he could register what he was saying, an oversight that cost him dearly. With a scream she launched into her tirade "_That is none of your business Phoenix Wright_" she shrieked punctuating her words with lashes from her whip. After a solid ten minutes of rage Franziska calmed down while Nick passed out from the pain. "_Does your Modus Operandi typically devolve into violence against User Nick or is this some sort of human courtesy ritual I am ignorant of_?" "_I don't like what's coming out of your mouth_" Franziska hissed coiling her whip _"I suggest you stop blathering_." "_Point taken_" Zero remarked "_Then may we change the topic? Why were you traveling with User West_?" She shrugged "_I stumbled into Frank West outside of my building. Those foolish undead freaks had entered my building and the other foolish residents foolishly were unable to handle them thus becoming foolish snacks. I managed to whip my way out of danger and found Frank West dispatching zombies outside. He pointed out we should travel together for protection_." Zero nodded sagely "_He is down below gathering weapons. Was he good in battle_?" Franziska nodded "_My whip arm is no slouch but Frank West easily took out thrice the zombies I did. Mind you my place is in the courtroom and not foolishly strolling about dispatching foolish zombies_."

"_What do you think of User West_" Zero asked which got him a perfect eyebrow raised up in confusion "_What are you foolishly asking me_?" "_I am just curious about what you think of User West_" Zero replied trying his best to phrase it with the right amount of user nonchalance "_He seems enjoy your company_." Another perfect eyebrow rose "_He enjoys my company, how foolishly vague of you_." The Maverick Hunter shrugged "_I am just making a statement_." "_Keep such foolish statements to yourself then_" Franziska demanded but instead of following up with a lash she seemed to withdraw into herself. Zero observed her, User emotions were completely alien to him so being able to witness them first hand proved be valuable experience. "_If I may make a suggestion_" he said shattering her reverie "_User West seems to like it when you whip him. Increasing the amount of punishment you inflict on him may help you to get to know him better_." She gave him a weird look "_Such a foolishly queer statement, if you wish to imply something foolish do not beat around the bush like a fool_." Still he noted the way her hand tightened on her whip in anticipation.

"_I have one other question_" he piped up which made her scowl "_This third degree is most trying, how much longer must I stand here answering your foolish questions_." "_Forgive me, it will be brief_" he replied "_User Nick mentioned that you have been spending noticeable amounts of time with someone named Gumshoe. Was he implying something_?" This earned him a lash to the face "_Foolish fool, what in the foolish hell are you foolishly talking about_?" she roared at him "_Scruffy is the most abhorrent man alive, he is large and clumsy. He eats an inordinate amount of food and talks about the most inane things. He is an incompetent, an idiot, and a bum. Every second I spend with him is one where I must wrestle with the urge to fling myself into the path of an eighteen wheeler, a fight that gradually grows more and more futile with each passing day_." Silently Zero recalled a line from a play that Users seemed to be awfully fond of 'The lady doth protest too much' he thought as he watched her yell and gesture wildly, he had never understood the sentiment behind that phrase until now. "_Forgive me, I seem to have misread something_" he said placating her slightly "_Get out_" she snarled at him and dutifully he retreated from the store dragging User Nick behind him.

A few splashes of water from the fish pond roused him from his sleep "_My back_" he whined as he slowly got up. "_Shall we continue our search for Tron_" Zero asked pointing down at the other end of the mall "_We have searched everywhere else save for that portion_." "_Ok, give me a minute_" Nick replied as he lightly rubbed his back "_If I had known finding her would be this circuitous I would have stayed staring at the fish pond_." The pair wandered towards the very back of the store where they found a door with light glowing out from its closed frame. It was room used to store inventory, Zero knocked on it "Ms. Tron, are you there?" The door opened with a squeak and the yellow head of Servbot 34 edged its way out and stared up at both of them. "May we see Ms. Bonne" Zero asked the little servant who squeaked a bit before retreating back behind the door. "_What did it say_" Nick asked. "_I do not know, it speaks in a language my servers do not understand_." Nick chewed on this a bit long until the Servbot returned and flung the door open for them. Crossing over the threshold they came across a rather funny scene. Tron had pooled all the candy she could from the storeroom into the middle of the floor, apparently this is where they kept the extra for the vending machines. With childish whimsy she had buried herself within the pile so her entire body save her head was underneath the rainbow wrapped candy. Her head stuck out of the side allowing her to breathe and consume candy by the handfuls.

The Servbots gathered around her like if she were a bonfire of some kind, they sat on their haunches and squeaked to each other in their high pitched language. They were the ones who first noticed the presence of Zero and Nick and their squeaking died immediately. It took Tron a second to realize she had visitors; her eyes had been closed in glee. "What the hell are they doing here" she demanded realizing what sort of position she was in "Who was the smartass who let them in?" All eyes turned to Servbot 34 who angrily pointed to his Lego-like brethren at alleged co-conspirators. Huffing Tron began to try and wiggle her way out of the candy pile only to find that no matter how she twitched and shook she couldn't free herself from its sugar coated grasp. "Little help here" she snapped at Zero and Nick "and watch those hands." They dashed over to the pile and reached in grabbing her hands and legs and hauling her out on top of the pile. Rolling down onto the floor she picked herself up and walked over to the pair of them. "If I hear a word about this from anyone else I'm gonna let the Servbots tear you from limb to limb and sell your organs on the black market" she jabbed her fingers into the chests menacingly "Got it?" The pair nodded, Zero as nonchalantly as ever but Nick nodded like his head was a magic eight ball.

Satisfied they wouldn't go blabbing she picked out Servbot 34 and hauled him up by his stubbly arms. "So you think you're awful funny, don't you?" The poor Servbot shook his head frantically but Tron wasn't taking any of his bullshit "You're on KP duty for a month" she announced which crushed poor 34 while its brothers quietly cheered behind them. Having doled out the punishment she turned back to the pair "What the hell do you want" she asked clearly annoyed they had interrupted her chocolate feast. "I wanted to enquire about the manner of machinery you used to transport me from the data world to the organic world" Zero asked "I wish to return to the Theta cycle post haste in order to resume my duty." "Too bad, the machine is back in the warehouse between a crap ton of zombies and one mean giant." Tron stated, scratching her nose "Though I have a question of my own, what the hell were you doing in a memory stick in the first place?" Zero crossed his arms "My data was abducted by a mysterious user and I was transported into this world to act as a caretaker over some kind of main frame. I hired a User to upload me into a powerful computer so I could use its processing power to send me back into the Unus Mundus." "Weird, this place uses an entirely different server so that should be technically impossible" Tron said rubbing her chin "There's no known tech that allows server jumping." "Known to us programs" Zero corrected her "It is entirely possible the Users have a way to transfer the data."

They mused over the possibility while Nick stood there awkwardly since they had lapsed to talking gin English. "Tron, have you noticed some oddities in this world" Zero asked "I am not familiar with the User world so I cannot pick apart the odd from the usual." "There's the zombie invasion for the most part" Tron acceded "A couple of other things now that I think about it." "Why did you not notice this before" he asked accusingly which made Tron raise her hands defensively "Cut me some slack, I've been busy doing stuff. It's not like I got all the time in the world to check out the weird stuff." Exasperated by her lack of concern Zero waved his hands dismissively "Please review your data bank and list the irregularities, I have a feeling something is wrong here in the User world. Also, please set your Servbots to patrol the building in intervals, we need to stay vigilant for zombies." "Ok, ok, whatever" Tron said "Just get the hell out of here and leave me in peace." The pair exited the room "_What was that all about_" Nick asked "Seems like you guys were pondering something." _"A…theory has recently begun to compile in my head and I wanted to do some fact checking with Tron_" Zero explained "_Shall we go and gather the others, I believe that this answer can be verified if I ask them some basic questions_."


End file.
